The Accursed Ones
by Fiction-stalker supreme
Summary: All at once the image became clear for Piper, how the future might be, how her life had been drastically changed by one event, something beyond her control. All at once she felt conflicted by this new world that she didn't understand, this world that was taking so much away from her. But what was worse, the same couldn't be said for her sisters. AU. Canon Divergent.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction. The work represented belongs to its owner and no profit is being made from this.

Chapter One

"I can't deal with this right now," Piper muttered, but it was more for herself than anyone else. For that matter, she was the only one in her room, staring at the vase filled with water which was frozen in the air. She'd been staring at the thing for the last fifteen minutes unable to react.

Piper wasn't sure why, because a matter of hours ago she'd quite irrationally said stupid phrase over and over, hoping that it would kill her _demon_ ex-boyfriend.

A chuckle passed through Piper before it quickly turned maniacal. On and on it went until it was abruptly stopped by the sound of glass shattering and water hitting the floor. If she didn't clean that up quickly it would leave a watermark, she was thinking before the door to her room was flung open, both Prue and Phoebe standing beyond looking on.

"What's going on? I heard something break," said Prue, a shallow sort of fear shining. It wasn't much, but it was certainly better than what she saw when she was looking at Phoebe, excitement in the girl's eyes, more than was necessary.

Piper couldn't help worrying about the girl.

"It's fine," she said, waving the thing off only to feel that edge of a sound as her power went off. She wasn't sure what she frozen, but she was sure she'd frozen it.

"Doesn't look so fine," said Prue, walking into the room and looking at the broken vase. "You know that money's a little tight right now. We don't need you breaking things."

"It's not like I did on purpose," said Piper, and then she paused, thinking. "Or maybe I need," she said with a chuckle. "I have powers and I'm testing them out," she said and feeling a ridiculous edge to the statement.

 _She had powers of all things. In what world could that be normal?_

Prue's expression softened, a low sigh escaping her. "I know this all seems a little…"

"No," said Piper, interrupting. "I don't think that you do," her tone was heated, filled with emotion she hadn't known she'd been holding back. "My boyfriend tried to kill us last night, not t mentioning adding all this powers craziness," she said, arms waving.

It wasn't expected and it was sudden, all at once there was a flash of red and fire a large bang that sent a concussive force through the room, knocking everyone back. For a moment Piper could feel nothing and could only hear a ringing in her ears.

Slowly she got up, coughing by the wood laden hair and surprised the breeze coming from the chunk in the wall.

"Is everyone alright?" Prue's voice rang above the ringing.

"Yeah!" Phoebe returned, she was already getting to her feet. "But what just—" She suddenly stopped and looking in her direction, Piper could see she was in the midst of one of her visions. "Oh, no!" she said, panic in her eyes. "We're going to have trouble. This has been called in, police should be here in say…five minutes."

"I'm sorry," said Piper, too finding her feet. "I didn't know I could—"

"It's okay," said Prue. She took a breath, looking around. She'd been closest to the explosion and there were small lines of blood on her cheek. She didn't seem to be in much pain. "Right now we just have to focus on fixing this."

"Phoebe bring us the book," she said. "Hopefully there'll be…I can't believe I'm saying this, but a spell in the book that might fix this. Something to take away memories."

"On it," said Phoebe before rushing out of the room. Prue turned to Piper, who'd been spending the last moment looking at her hands in dismay. Freezing had been one thing, she hadn't yet had time to figure out the way it worked, but it had been relatively harmless.

But this?

"Calm down," said Prue, standing over Piper, her features having softened again. "We can deal with this, okay?" Piper nodded mutely. "Say it with me, we can do this."

"We can do this," they said together, repeating the words over and over until they became a mantra. It helped a little, calming the panic that had set but even so thinking on the danger was still terrifying.

"If your powers are anything like mine then they react to your emotions," she said. "Fear, anger, maybe even happiness. Going by our discussion earlier it's probably anger. So try not to feel angry for in the next few minutes okay?"

Piper let out a disbelieving chuckle. "I'll try," she said. "But, how will I even go to work like this?"

"We'll figure all of that later," said Prue. "Right now we're just dealing, okay?"

Piper could only nod.

"I found the book," said Phoebe, "a flipping through it as I ran I couldn't find anything on memory spells. Just a lot of offensive potions and some knowhow on killing demons."

"Of course there wouldn't be considering who wrote it," Prue muttered. "Then we'll have to figure this out the old way. Lies and a lot of them."

"Lying to the police?" said Phoebe, she was grinning. "Get a load of her, being all… _me."_

Prue sighed, shaking her head. "They'll most likely think this is a bomb," she said.

"At least we'll be able to get insurance from all of this," muttered Phoebe.

"Upside at least," said Piper. "But it will cost more to fix the wall than they'll be willing to give I'm sure." It helped a little to focus on something else, something more normal even if the cause had definitely been not normal.

"Not necessarily," said Phoebe. "I've been reading the book. The first parts is a pretty clear instruction on how to create spells. A poem and it has to rhyme. We can do it individually but there's more power behind it if we use the Power of Three."

There was silence for a moment as both Piper and Prue stared at their younger sister. "What?" she asked.

"It's just you," said Piper, it was better her than Prue. If those two got at it, then it would take a while before they stopped fighting. "Don't take this the wrong way, hun, but you aren't exactly…studious?"

"Well if isn't one of her romance novels, that is," said Prue.

Phoebe must have heard because she frowned before waving it off. "The poem doesn't have to be complicated as long as there aren't that many variables, but it has to be a spell, like: _Vase that's broken on the ground, become unbroken at my voice's sound?"_

"That was terrible," Piper felt to mention.

"Hey," said Phoebe, a pout on her. The spell worked, all the pieces of glass jumped back into a vase, though the water was still on the floor, albeit now with a brown colour.

"But it worked," said Prue. "Maybe Grandma didn't ever need a memory spell and she didn't write it, but we might have to if this doesn't work out. For the time being, though, let's wait and see."

It was at that moment that flashing lights could be seen from outside, the sound of sirens arriving so closely behind it that they looked to have been moving at the same velocity. Prue let out a sigh, that will be the police, follow my lead.

888

"…we'll keep a unit keep an eye out for the rest of the night," Officer Borrows said. "We'll keep you informed on the investigation."

"Thank you, Officer," said Prue, door in hand and ready for closing. The Officer gave a nod and walked off towards his car. Prue closed the door and let out a long breath. "That worked."

"As far as we know," said Piper. "I haven't watched many detective shows, but I know they'll have notice that the explosion came from the inside out."

"Yeah, sure," said Phoebe. "But we don't really have any reason to blow up a house and they don't know that we're…witches," she said, whispering the last.

"Like I said before, we see how this pans out," she said. "In the meantime we'll have to keep looking for people who'll fix the wall. We'll have eyes one us so that pushes magic out of the way."

"What about the other thing?" said Phoebe, gesturing at Piper. "The whole explodey thing?"

"I think we both know what you were referring to," said Prue. She let out another sigh, something Piper noticed was happening more and more the past day, more than she was used to. "We'll need to practise with our abilities, or at least get some intel on them, know how far they'll advance and what we'll have to expect or else we might hurt someone."

"Oh. Oh," said Phoebe. "We can call Grams."

"You've really been reading this, haven't you?" said Prue, looking a little uncomfortable.

"This is new and exciting," said Phoebe. "Of course I'd try and get as much as I could. We'll have to go to the attic, but there might be lights involved, it might call the attention of the police officers outside."

"It's safer to work in the morning," she said.

"But I have…" She stopped. She'd been about to say she had work in the morning, her first day in Quake since the interview, but that all paled when she considered the fact that she could kill with an errant swipe of the hand.

"Nothing," she said to her sister, both of whom were looking at her. "It doesn't matter." It couldn't matter when she looked at it with the bigger picture in mind.

It went against her beliefs to hurt the innocent and with her powers she was now a walking bomb. She couldn't function anymore, she couldn't work regular hours nor could she hope to be with someone because with how her powers were connected to her emotions she could hurt him. It was a terrifying though, all coming together into one vivid image of her sitting alone in a boarded house afraid she would hurt anyone that neared.

 _No,_ she told herself. _You're thinking too far ahead. Even with the limited information you know there have been other witches. It's highly probable that they've had destructive powers and they learned to control them._

She let out a long breathe, hoping that with time the image would disappear. "Do you mind if I have the book tonight?" she said to Phoebe. "It might help give me a handle on my powers."

"Sure," said Phoebe, her chipper expression melting away to show signs of concern.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow," she said, grabbing the book and starting towards her room, where there would be a large boarded up hole. It occurred she could still in her grandmother's room but the thought was quickly cast away, it wouldn't do much to help the sense that she was being overcome by her emotions.

"Do you want to bunk with me tonight?" asked Prue.

Piper shook her head. "I just want to be alone right now," she said.

Unsurprisingly when she managed to sleep that night, she had nightmares.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"I have to go out today," said Phoebe, there was worry in her tone but it was lighter than it had been at first. After two weeks Piper still hadn't left the house, and by now, the others were starting to get accustomed to her vices.

"Are you sure you don't want to come with me?" she said. "I'm sure Brittany would love to see you. Tell you about her trip to Tahiti?"

"I'm fine," said Piper, giving Phoebe a small smile. She hated it, that she still had to be here, but she was gradually getting accustomed to the fact that until she thought she had a proper handle on the ability.

In the two weeks they'd learnt quite a lot, most of which Piper didn't exactly enjoy. They were apparently some sort of curse by their ancestor, a culmination of a bloodline of witches that gave rise to supposedly the most powerful forces of good to live: The Charmed One.

Put simply, this meant that they're entire lives had to be put aside so that they could protect people. Not altogether a bad thing, but the words being thrown around were, the most disturbing of which was _destiny._

Piper hadn't discussed her loathing of this word to her sister, even with the dangers that would come, they seemed to accept the fact that they were destined to fight evil. Even if it meant that a job she'd worked quite hard for had been lost because of her explosive hands.

"Well," said Phoebe, not seeing Piper's line of thought. "I'd better get going. Love you," she said, giving Piper a hug before she left.

With Phoebe gone, Piper had the house to herself. She stood, touting the book along with her as she moved to fortified drawing room. It had taken a lot of work before Phoebe had gotten the spell down but it had ended in a room where sound didn't get out and the walls, door and windows were indestructible.

The room was bare, all the furniture having been moved or sold to put into the House Account for any time that it might be needed that they fix something through workmen. Instead there was a long table made out of wood, it too fortified, and on it were various old and useless objects ranging in size. The largest was a broke down fridge, while the smallest was a baseball.

As was becoming pattern, Piper took a breath and focused. She pushed her mind towards calling up the instances that made her angry and she pointed her hands in the direction of the fridge, giving them a flick while she gave a mental push; a small second and the fridge blew apart, pieces of rubble falling in every direction.

That was the easy part, her ability did very well with making large explosions. It was scaling them down while keeping the amount of power they expelled that was the problem.

She moved on to the smaller microwave, something they'd picked up in a junk pile. This time was a little different, she had to work towards forming an image of what she wanted in her mind first before thinking on the emotions; she imagined a ball, it would fly through the air and hit, exploding. She imagined the size of the ball and the explosion would take and then she flicked her hands.

The explosion went off, scattering the pieces of the microwave oven. She repeated, moving to an even smaller safe but this time it didn't have the result she wanted. The power behind the thing must have been wanting because the only sign was warped metal.

"Objects broken and scattered, pieces strewn and shattered, become one when this spell is done, repeat as long as there is need, until I say that I am freed."

As one, the pieces jumped and everything was fine again. She repeated this, moving over and over until she was forced to stop. She moved to the kitchen, making herself something eat before she returned, this time working with the baseball on her freezing ability. It was a little easier to work with, with only focusing on the moving parts and imagining all of them stopping.

Three hours and this grew boring. Piper took the moment to search through Phoebe's collection of videos until she found something she could watch, not that she watched much of it because after fifteen minutes she went to sleep.

When she got up again it was because of the doorbell chiming.

"Coming," she said when the bell rang again. She moved quickly to the door, calming her breathing because even though it was unlikely, it was still possible that it was a demon. They hadn't seen one since…

They hadn't seen one since their initial encounter but it was possible they might with being the Charmed Ones. Part of the whole destiny thing.

She looked through the peephole and let out a breath of relief as she saw Andy on the other side. She opened the door, putting on a smile she didn't really feel.

"Andy, how are you? What are you doing here? Prue is at work," she said in quick order.

"I know," he said. "Do you mind if I come in?"

"I hope this isn't official police business," she said as she stepped back, gesturing for Andy to come in.

"You know that makes me curious, right," he said, a chuckle in the edge of his voice. "In all honesty it is," he said and Piper frowned. "It's about the investigation," he continued. "How we haven't been able to make heads or tails of it."

"That's what you said two days ago," said Piper. "I don't see what would make you come here personally."

He frowned as he looked at her. "It's just that…we think something more might be going on here."

"More how," she asked, feeling worry starting to creep in. What would even happen if they were discovered to be witches?

"A week ago people started disappearing," he said. "Women in their early to mid-twenties."

"Like us," said Piper. "You think we were a target?"

"With the little that we know about this person or their motive, it safer that we don't rule out the option," he said. "It would do me at ease if I knew you and your sisters were being safe, locking your doors at night. Maybe adding extra security to the place?"

"Yeah," said Piper. "We've been thinking about that. Working around our expenses since Prue is the only of us working."

Piper felt a small amount of anger as she saw his expression warp into pity. No doubt everyone pitied her, because from their perspective she now could no longer leave the house because of the explosion. There was nothing wrong with being seen as weak but it was irritating that they couldn't see that she was doing this for all of them.

"Anyway, be safe," said Andy. "And rest assured we're working towards finding the person or people responsible for all this."

888

"So, I noticed something to day," said Phoebe while the three of them were in the sitting room enjoying their dinner. "I have to wonder how much this has been going on and how much I've missed because…"

"You're rambling," Piper said through a bite.

"Right, right," she said before she gulped down her glass of water and threw the thing against the wall.

"Phoebe," said Prue, shocked. There was no sound of shattering glass, instead the glass hung in the air, held by Prue's invisible hand. "You can't just go around throwing things."

"I can," said Phoebe. "But I was trying to make a point. You mind letting the thing drop now? Because this was going somewhere."

"Then tell us first," said Prue. "Sudden noises could…" Prue stopped, her eyes briefly moving towards Piper before she stopped herself.

"You don't have to talk around me," she said. "I know I'm volatile right now."

The atmosphere shifted and the pity directed at her was back. She took slow breaths to push back the irritation, bottling it to a point before she directed it and the glass still in the air. The thing shattered, earning a surprise from her sisters before Phoebe shot her a grin. The pieces fell to the ground, fortunately Phoebe had thrown the glass away from them, which meant the pieces hit no one.

"Word," said Phoebe and suddenly the glass was reformed.

"What?" Prue said.

"The first spell I made up," she said. "Maybe it was because I was unspecific or because there was an element of vagueness when I was going into it, but now every time something break around me, it fixes itself when I speak."

"That could prove to be troublesome," said Prue.

"Yeah," said Phoebe. "I know that, which is the reason I'll be working on a spell to counter it. The book will probably have something interesting to say about spell reversal. It's cool though."

"But it leaves us exposed to more warlocks," said Piper. "I was thinking we start thinking of spell to ward the house. More than just minor measure, but a spell using the Power of Three to make sure we aren't attacked at home."

"You afraid of something like that happening?" asked Prue.

"Yes. Andy was here today, apparently there's someone going around kidnapping people."

"What?" said Phoebe. "And you didn't think you should tell us this? We might be able to help with our powers."

"But that's police business," said Piper. "What are we could to do? Blow up the kidnappers? Move them? Or see their future?"

"No," said Phoebe. "But maybe I can _look_ see who their next victim is going to be and then make an anonymous tip."

"That could work," said Prue. "But we have no—" She stopped because Phoebe had that look in her eyes, as though she was in a far off place before she abruptly returned, already rising to her feet.

"We have to go," she said. "Brittany's in danger."

888

Early evening was not a time to be travelling by car in the city, especially when what they had was only an image of a location without clear location. Forty five minutes they spent trying to find the buildings that worked off of Phoebe's memories.

"This is it, this is the place," said Phoebe as they stopped in front of a photo studio, the doors locked and darkness beyond. Prue didn't even think about it, giving her hand a flick that sent doors back only to be held at bay by the locks.

"Future's changed, he's moving faster," said Phoebe.

"Out of the way," said Piper and she focused on the anger. She flicked her hands and there was an explosion, breaking through the doors and sending glass and metal flying back.

The three rushed into the studio with Prue taking the lead.

"Which floor?" Prue asked before she stumbled, almost falling only to be caught by Phoebe and Piper. She took a breath and said, "Upstairs," she said, starting to run again. "It's a demon, I think, and it's making her older the more it stares at her."

"A demon? How did she even…" Piper said before she stopped as she was forced to run up a flight of stairs.

"You guys go ahead I'll catch up," said Prue before she stopped.

Piper and Phoebe continued forward and reached the first floor. Prue was already waiting for them beyond, "In here," she said, "and he's ready." And then she disappeared.

Question came unbidden but Piper pushed them back, her hands flicking outwards and an explosion ripping through the door that barred her path. "Dodge!" Phoebe shouted as the neared the door, diving into Piper; it was just in time because a beam of grin light shot out of the space, slamming into the wall and leaving a black scorch mark.

Piper quickly found her feet and focused on the anger; the ball detonated and the man was shot off his feet into the air before he landed in a clump. The man gave an errant wave of the hand and Piper felt something grip her, shoving her to the side and slamming her into a work table.

The man was finding his feet before he was pushed back again, his head flicking as he moved. She heard a grunt from Prue right after the thud of a body hitting a wall.

Thinking stationary thoughts, Prue flicked her hand and the man stopped froze from his positions.

"Phoebe, free Brittany," said Prue. "Piper blow him up."

Piper did, but instead of an explosion the man moved. "I don't—" She had time to say before beams of green light shot towards her. The force gripped her again, pushing her aside and causing the beam to miss her.

With a scream, Prue waved both her hands and two work stations tore through the air towards the man. He pushed one aside while jumping to the side to avoid from being hit.

"Come on," Phoebe muttered as she worked to free Stephanie who now looked ten years older. All at once everything was fixed, all the damage gone and the desks returned to where they'd first been.

The demon looked especially confused because a broken light he'd sent flying at Prue was now fixed.

Piper froze him again and the man stuck.

"I don't know how long that'll last," she said. "But I don't think I can using freezing and exploding on the same person or thing."

"How do we banish him? Phoebe can you look into the future," said Prue.

"Kind of busy," she said. "Can one of you guys help me out. Future sight really isn't that good at unravelling these ropes. Wait a minute I'm a witch: Ropes which this woman bind, unclasp and let her freedom find."

The ropes fell to the ground and it was just in time because the demon chose that moment to escape his freeze.

"Witches," he said, contempt in his voice. "How? When I have be so careful?"

"That's not important right now," said Prue, standing taller. "Just know we can't let you keep doing what you're doing: The Power of Three will set us free."

" _The Power of Three will set us free,"_ the others said and repeated. The demon took a step back, fear in his eyes. _"The Power of Three will set us free."_

"Impossible," he said. "The Charmed Ones? But you're legend."

"This isn't working," Phoebe muttered when she was close enough, but she still kept time, repeating the spell.

The demon's eyes flashed green but Piper was prepared. Her hands flicked out and the beam stopped before it could hit anything. This, however, had been a distraction and the demon took that opportunity to levitate desks towards a window while running in the direction; he jumped through, uncaring of the fact that it was a full storey to the ground.

"It didn't work," said Phoebe, and suddenly everything was fine again. "And this could get really handy for any future battles."

"We'll have to consult the Book of Shadows," said Prue. "And we'll need to figure out what we'll do with Brittany."

The woman had lost consciousness at some point and she was leaning quite heavily on Phoebe, the smaller girl struggling to bear her weight. Piper moved to help her, while her own mine struggled at how they would explain this when the Brittany eventually was awake.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"The demon's name is Javna," said Prue, the book in hand. It had taken a little longer to arrive back home, but in all that time Brittany had remain in slumber. "The last time he was vanquished it was using something called the Hand of Fatima, with the power of three witches."

"He was vanquished before?" said Piper. "But he's still alive. How does that work?"

"Vanquished doesn't neccesarily mean killed," said Prue. "It just means you've beat someone, utterly defeated."

"So that means all those names in the book could reform?" asked Phoebe, and from Prue's expression the answer was quite clear. "Wonderful," she muttered.

"Really wonderful," Piper muttering in return. "Because this means that any demon we fight might come back. After all, how do we know whether a demon has been killed or vanquished. We'll be doing this for the rest of our lives won't we?" she said, unadulterated horror in those words.

The image came back, more vivid and longer. Not just a boarded up room, but instead feeling compelled to run around, continually putting hers and her sister's lives in danger for strangers. Their fight hadn't been the best of successes, only the fact that Javna hadn't been expecting the three of them to be The Charmed ones. Even then the legend behind them had been the reason he'd run off and not anything they'd actually done, because they hadn't hurt him.

"We'll figure something out," said Prue, a certainty in her voice Piper was starting to find naïve. Why were the others so blasé about this? Weren't they thinking about the future that this life would bring?

If they eventually decided to have kids it would be with this danger, demons maybe coming after them because they were the Charmed Ones and it would be easier for demon-kind to move on if they weren't around. Piper couldn't help it but her breaths were coming out faster, her heart doing the same and edges of darkness closing in on the edge of her eyes.

She tried to push it back, listen to Prue's voice a long distance away but it didn't help.

When she woke up Piper found that she was in her bed and she had a moment to feel terrible when the memories of what had happened reached her. A long groan passed through her, Brittany was still older than she really was and there were people out there under the effect of the demon Javna, and here she was having a panic attack.

Slowly she got out of bed and took a healthy drink of the water that had been left at her bedside. She allowed a few minutes to get her breathing under control and a quick shower before she went downstairs. Her sisters were there and so was a stranger, it was maybe the last few hours' events that did this but on impulse she flicked her hands, her mind thinking _stop._

"What? Piper?" said Phoebe. "What did you do that for. He wasn't hurting anyone."

"I think it's becoming reflex," said Piper walking further into the room. "Where's Brittany?"

"Asleep," said Prue. "We made a potion while you were… She's in something of a coma. We can't keep her sedated for a very long time or she'll get hungry and her body will start getting bedsores."

"And where does he fit into all of this?" Piper asked.

"He arrived when…you were out," said Phoebe. "Apparently he's our guardian angel."

"Guardian angel?" Piper said, not hiding her suspicion. "If he's our guardian angel then where was he when we were fighting Javna or Jeremy?"

"All good questions," said Prue, "and ones we were going to ask him after letting Javna escape. Do you mind unfreezing him?"

"Fine," muttered Piper. She was about to flick her hands when he said, "Wait, isn't he one of the guys that worked on fixing my wall?"

"How you could forget such a tall cool glass of water is beyond me," Phoebe muttered. Piper just shot her a look.

"Yeah, it's him," said Prue. "Leo Wyatt. Unfreeze, please, now?"

Piper gave a wave and the man moved, looking where she'd been before looking at where she was.

"You froze me," he said, quite surprised.

"Yes, because you're a stranger after we fought a demon," she said. Piper moved to take a seat across from the man, her distrust clearly visible on her expression. "So, Guardian Angel, I'm curious why you're so late."

"Um…" Leo started, shifting and sitting back. The others said nothing, but it was easy to see that the same questions rolling around in their heads. "It's…Um. It might be a bad start to our working relationship."

" _That's_ a bad start to our relationship," said Prue. "I didn't say anything before because we had a crisis, but because the question is already in the air, I think we deserve an answer."

"Alright," said Leo with a sigh. "The Elders didn't want me to intervene because they thought it would be detrimental to your future as the Charmed Ones."

"So us being in danger means nothing so long as we're stronger at the end of it all?" asked Prue, her tone with a cold edge to it. "I haven't met them, but I'm already not liking these Elders."

"They have the greater good in mind though," said Leo. "Above all else they're a force for good."

"A great many evils have been committed by people with a mind for good," said Phoebe. "I can't list any, but I remember that being a theme in that one class."

"Glad to see that you retained something from college at least," Prue muttered.

"Not now," said Piper. "Right now he's the one we should be focusing on. Like how he's already been doing a very bad job at guarding us."

"Or for that matter that an invisible hand is dictating our lives," said Prue. "Albeit indirectly."

"As far as we know," said Phoebe. "Magic is real. The future can be seen. It's very possible that there are greater seers out there looking into our future and working events to meet their preferred outcome…which is a really scary thought now that I think about it."

"And not far off from his expression," said Prue.

When Piper looked, Leo did look uncomfortable. "The Angels of Destiny do exist," he said. "They make sure things go as they're destined to be."

"Which raises further questions," said Phoebe. "Like how the future flows. Is it static or ever changing? If it's ever changing then destiny can't work because it's an antithesis to free will and the fluid nature of time. Destiny as a concept also doesn't exist so well because how does my ability fit into all this? I'm actively changing the future, the flow of time and thus people's destinies."

"Could be that everything we do is a part of that plan," said Piper. "It seems more likely with the whole destiny brought into be a Charmed One."

"It helps if you don't overthink it," said Leo, lamely.

"It's easier not to overthink it, sure," said Prue. "But is it better in the long run? I don't want to live with the constant knowledge that I'm some cog in some great machine. I think we'll need to figure this out," Prue continued. "Please, give us a little time."

Leo stood and then he shifted again. It really should have been annoying how readable the man was but it was endearing. Piper shook away the thread of thought that was starting to bloom.

"I didn't expect this," he said. "The way you're acting. But I think it would be better in the long run if I mentioned that I can still hear you guys even if I'm not in the room."

"Stalker much?" Phoebe muttered and with the look Prue shot at the man, Piper was sure that if her sister had her ability then the man would have been bits and pieces scattered all over their floor.

"I think I'll go and let you figure all this out," said Leo before he shifted into beads of small blue lights, all of them moving upwards with a twinkling sound. They disappeared before they hit the ceiling.

"Things just got all the more complicated, didn't they?" said Phoebe.

Piper shook her head. She felt a little scared, but this needed to be said less she bottle it all up and have more panic attacks.

"Not really if you think about it," said Piper, "and I have been thinking about it." With that her sisters were paying more attention to her. She didn't entirely like it, not entirely used to it because she could just get by on her own in most occasions. But this needed to be said. After all people said communication helped even if it hurt.

"We're destined to be the Charmed Ones," said Piper. "To fight evil. Have you guys thought about what that means for the future? Because I did and it seemed bleak. That demon that we fought today, he was scared of us and he ran, if he's smart he'll tell people that we're real and even if he isn't entirely believed we'll have demons coming after us.

"Now stretch that out for the future. Us constantly being in danger, the people we're in relationships being used as bargaining chips or hostages, and, if we're lucky, or unlucky maybe, if we have kids they'll be in danger."

There was that sympathy again, but at least Piper could see the fear coming from Prue. The same could not be said for Phoebe who instead looked conflicted.

"But what can we do?" said Phoebe. "Not protect people?"

"It's wrong," said Piper, feeling uncomfortable. "But…maybe? I don't know. Why are we the ones foisted with this power? Why are we destined for this?"

"Because we're the Charmed Ones," said Phoebe.

"That shouldn't mean anything! That shouldn't mean that the illusion of freewill that we had is done away with!" Piper said. "I didn't choose this, _we_ didn't choose this. We should at least be given that before being expected to put our lives on the line for others."

"I didn't know you felt like this," said Prue.

"I know," said Piper. "But… How could I say all this when you both were exciting by the powers. I didn't want to disappoint you."

"Oh, honey," said Prue, coming to a sit beside Piper and giving her a hug. "You should have told us about all this. If we've been putting pressure on you to risk your life, then…"

"No, it's not you," said Piper. She let out a sigh. "It's this. All of this. Our lives have been turned around because of these powers. I lost a job I'd just got because of this and now I learn that we're constantly being watched or that there's a thing that's called destiny and that people are working our line to fit what _they_ want."

Piper took a large breath.

"This is all too much and I don't know what to do."

"I guess we've been too hopped up on how cool this is and haven't thought about how to deal with it," said Phoebe. "Which I get from _me,"_ she said with a small grin. "It's the rest of you that I'm worried about it."

Piper couldn't help, she smiled a little. It was moments like these that she really enjoyed having sisters.

"So let's start all of this from the beginning," said Prue. "Do we want to do this? Keep fighting these demons?"

"Do we have a choice?" asked Phoebe.

"I don't know," said Prue. "I don't know about the Elders or Whitelighters or Angels of Destiny. I don't know if we _truly_ have choices, but here and now, we can make choices that seem good for us. Do we want to do this, beyond the destiny aspect? Phoebe?"

Phoebe shifted. "Yes? _I_ want to. Because if I don't, then who will?"

"In all honesty why would we be so special?" asked Piper. "Our powers have just been awakened. In all the time we didn't have powers and the world continued to work. There were demons but they were still dealt with. Looking at it from that perspective, then we're not really needed."

"I guess that's a no from you then?" said Prue, her voice, surprisingly, without any judgement.

Piper sighed. "I don't know. Everything that Grams taught us makes me want to help. But thinking about it, really _thinking_ about it. I can't see a future where this doesn't end with us being killed."

"Grams survived," said Phoebe.

"But Mom didn't," said Prue. "Could this be why, how she died? Leo!" Orbs flew down into the room and the man still looked uncomfortable. "How did our mother die?"

"She was killed by a water demon," said Leo.

All at once all the images that had been in her mind got more vivid, starker with more blood concerned. The entire fight ran through her mind again but this time she imagined all the things that could have gone wrong: Herself being caught by the scorching beams, a table slamming into her, Prue moved so fast that she died on impact with the all. So many things that could have gone wrong, all of them amount in their deaths.

"Thank you, Leo," said Prue.

The man nodded and then left.

"I really don't want to," said Piper. "At least not now. Not in my current capacity."

"I'm thinking that too," said Prue. "Even if we won't be actively fighting demons, if things work the way we think they do, then we'll have to deal with at least the demons who'll be attacking us. Which means we need training, both the magical and the mundane side."

"Seconded," said Phoebe. "But first, what are we going to about Brittany?"

"We don't know if vanquishing Javna will return her to her previous age," said Prue. "But in the long run it might mean more women disappearing."

"Or I can just check," said Phoebe. "I've been getting pretty good at pushing for visions. It might give us a schedule to work with."

"Do that," said Prue. "I'll check the phone book for any places that teach self-defence, as well as a place to train us in using firearms."

"Do you think they work on demons?" asked Piper.

"I don't know, but if they don't then we'll coat them with either spells or potions to make them work. Even with our powers it couldn't hurt, not to mention Phoebe's power's aren't as offensive as our own."

"Right," said Piper. "What will I be doing?"

"What do you want to do?" asked Prue and Piper found she didn't know what she wanted to do.

She was quiet as she thought, before she said, "I have questions."

"Then ask them," said Prue as she left.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

"Tell me everything," said Piper giving Leo a cold look.

"Everything?" the man said, still shifting. He'd been shifting ever since being called back by Piper.

"Everything," Piper repeated. "About how the magical world works. About Demons, Whitelighters, the Elders and all other magical beings out there."

"Right," said Leo. "I suppose I'll start with the broad strokes. The world is made up of good and evil beings, constantly fighting towards their own agendas. Mostly it's just one side wanting to be the dominant force on earth."

"No one neutral?" asked Piper. Leo frowned at that. "How does that even work? No one is just good or evil. They can do things which _are_ good or evil but they aren't entirely so."

"It's different with magical beings," said Leo.

"Different how?" Before the man could answer Piper shook her head. "I need to understand something before that happens. Where do demons come from?"

"From the Source of All Evil," said Leo.

"So he creates demons?" said Piper.

"Yes…and no. Some demons are created by the Source, though that hasn't been done in centuries, but others are born through…relations between demons and demons, demons and humans, there are even myths that a whitelighter and a demon once had a child."

"Myths," said Piper. "Which means it might very well not be true."

"Humans can also be turned into demons," Leo continued. "It's one of the main reasons Whitelighters exists. The process to turn a person into a demon requires they commit more evil than good in their life, when they die their souls are sent to the underworld where the Source gives them a portion of his power. It's how low-level demons come to be."

"So there are so demons with human souls," said Piper. "Isn't it possible, then, that demons aren't entirely evil?"

"Possible, sure," said Leo. "But very unlikely. The Source's power is tainted with his evil, making it so that anyone who uses it is more likely than not going to be, and if they aren't become, evil."

"What's the antithesis to the Source?"

"The Elders," said Leo.

"And I assume that they're the source of all good?"

Leo shook his head. "It doesn't work like that. The Elder work indirectly," he said. "They're forces of good, sure, but they're not heavy handed. They don't interfere directly with anyone."

"They work events so that they can achieve their outcome?" said Piper. "Along with the Angel of Destiny?"

"Angels," Leo corrected. "The Angels od Destiny are good, sure, but they don't interfere, only making sure that the Grand Design is kept."

"Grand Design?"

"How the future is supposed to flow. What it's supposed to look like," said Leo.

"And who decides what the Grand Design?" asked Piper.

"I don't know," said Leo. "That's something the Elders or the Angels themselves may know."

"So this means that free will doesn't exist?" said Piper. "That no matter how we try to do things in the end the Angels of Destiny are the ones who decide what our future is going to be?"

Leo shook his head. "I don't know. It's not something I've ever thought about…Matter of fact, are you going to let me explain or are you going to keep asking questions?"

"Don't get testy," said Piper. "Go on."

"There a myriad of other magical being beyond the major powers: Vampires, Unicorn, Leprechauns, Dwarves, Fairies, Pixies, Gnomes, Dragons, Wizards, Witches and Warlocks." Leo took a breath and continued, "Trolls, Golems, Mermaids—"

"I get it, there are a lot," said Piper. "And where do they scale in the whole good versus evil thing?"

"Some are good and others are evil," said Leo. "It depends on the individual. There are some that aren't exactly _evil_ per say but they don't play by human rules which makes them evil in our eyes."

Piper nodded, that made sense. They were a different species after all, it didn't make sense that they would act the same way.

"All these different beings, how do they hide one earth. Surveillance has been getting better the last few years," she said. "Someone should have seen something and all of this should have ended up in the news."

"Two layers of protections," said Leo. "One is the fact that there are different layers of reality, dimensions existing parallel to our own that are accessible either through teleportation or portals scattered all over the world. The second layer of protection are the Cleaners. They're a cooperative between Good and Evil, protecting magic as a whole."

"I don't get that. Why would demons want this? Why would they want the status quo to continue. If normal people found out about this, about us, then they would most likely panic, they'd think all of us were evil and unknowingly cause more evil in the world," said Piper.

"It took me a few seconds to think of this, demon kind should have been able to think of this before," Piper continued. "This entire world just doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe demons aren't as smart as you," said Leo.

"I doubt that," said Piper. "So the status quo is kept by both demons and whitelighters, got it. Anything else I need to know?"

"Witches can become evil too," said Leo. "If you use your power to for evil or forsake your duty towards protecting innocents then you're also considered evil and you're termed a warlock."

"So either I protect people, putting my own life in danger, or I'm termed evil? So again, my _choice_ isn't factored into all of this?"

Leo shifted again, his eyes shining with what Piper could only call disappointment. Surprisingly, she didn't feel any guilt or anger.

"What about this personal gain thing?" said Piper. "The book isn't too specific on that front."

"Good witches aren't supposed to use their abilities for their own benefit," said Leo. "If they do, their spells will backfire and with enough spells or magic used for their own benefit then they might lose access to their powers."

"More restrictions on _my_ powers," said Piper. "Might make a girl want to turn 'evil.'"

"Piper it isn't—"

"Stop," said Piper. "Don't say unless you're answering my questions. I'm getting a lot of black and white from what you've been saying," said Piper. "Either evil or good. Where does neutrality exist in all this? Where does the fluidity of being human exist in this?

"The others I can get," she continued. "Demon have the Source's taint, the others don't abide by human morality so they're evil from our perspective, but why are there such strict rules where witches, which are human, are concerned?

"The whole thing with humans is that we can be whatever. We can do bad things but that doesn't make us bad people, it just makes us people. Why are witches held by this higher standard?"

"Because you have power normal people don't have," said Leo. "Because of that power you have to be held to a higher standard, to stricter rules or you might abuse it."

"Or you're making it harder to be good," said Piper. "People need a steady income to survive, which means jobs. All of this together means a greater amount of work we have to do between protecting innocents and keeping our own lives. Without the personal gain thing, we wouldn't need to work which means a greater protection of innocents. All these rules don't make any sense, if you ask me," she said. "They seem to be geared towards making things harder for us."

"That's the whole point of being good," said Leo. "Overcoming hardship."

"That's one of the most teeming load of crap I've ever heard," said Piper. "A police officer does good work, right?"

"Yes," said Leo, "and I see where you're going with this. But it's not the same thing. If you use your powers to get money you'll be actively working towards harming someone. It might not be a good person, but at the end of the day you'd still be causing them harm."

"So the grander rules don't care about whether a normal person is bad or not, just that I don't 'abuse' my powers, even if it's for the greater good in the long term."

"That's not what I meant," said Leo.

"But it's what you said. More and more, you're making me think that the way things are running is useless. We're protecting bad people through inaction in this way—" Piper was about to say more when Phoebe rushed into the room.

"Freeze him," she said and Piper didn't hesitate, but the same could be said for Leo. The man was in the process of teleporting out but Piper's power still caught hold of him, causing the freeze in his light state.

"What is it, what's going on?" Piper said, already in panic mode.

"We have six hours before _they_ notice," said Phoebe. "Prue! Get down here!"

Not even a moment later and Prue was running into the room. "What it is, what's going on?"

"I just had a vision of the past," she said. "I know, shocker, but I like it because you two having been getting awesome powers but that's not the point. We have to work through a spell to ward this house from sound both magical and mundane."

"Why, what's going on?" asked Prue.

"It's better if I don't say anything yet," said Phoebe, "just in case one of them is listening."

"Let's get this done," said Prue.

888

Four hours spent nonstop working on the spell. Piper watched it grow and it was quite beautiful. Unlike the others she wasn't creatively inclined so most of the time she watched her sisters. Prue and Phoebe discussed before the latter of the two would have a far off look and then changing the thing based one future vision.

Four hours and the spell was done.

Four hours and the spell was said.

Four hours and Piper unfroze Leo.

"He shouldn't be able to hear us now," said Phoebe. "And it means less heat off of us. Which means I can tell you this before the walls come down: We have a fourth sister named Paige. Mom had to hide her because of the Elders."

In that moment Piper realised something, she didn't like the Elders nor the system they'd created for magical kind. Because if their rules had caused her not to know a sister, had forced her mother to make such a decision, then they couldn't be as good as they claimed to be.

"We have to overthrow the Elders," said Piper, surprised at herself. For the first time Phoebe looked scared, but Prue, she looked the most angry Piper had ever seen her before, angrier than she'd been at Phoebe.

Much though she didn't like the Elders, Phoebe couldn't help but feel sorry for them.

888

AN: Yeah. This. Don't know how I'll be able to move forward, but it's been an idea that's been in my mind since South Africa's _Fox_ channel has been replaying Charmed. This is totally Elder bashing, but from what I've seen from the guys, they really are jackasses touting the greater good as shield.

That aside. Don't know when I'll continue this because I have other stories that I'm writing and others that I'm editing and this might go without being updated for a while—or at least until I love another episode and get inspired.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

"I think you're jumping the gun," said Prue.

"No," said Piper. "Not at all. The Elders are a part of the problem. They're keeping a broken status quo, controlling the greater world because they think they're _good_ and now they've kept our sister away from us?"

"Piper, calm down," said Prue.

"I will not calm down!" she said. "I won't let these powers stop me from feeling angry."

"Piper, look down," said Phoebe. Piper did and the sight was of the wooden floors which had cracks running all along them. Piper took a long breath, pushing away the anger, doing her best to push away all emotions. The cracks on the floor fixed themselves.

"This doesn't even make sense," Piper said, ignoring the cracks repairing themselves. "How does this connect to my powers? Freezing, explosions and now cracks?"

"Maybe I can help," said Phoebe. She took a breath and the far off look appeared before it disappeared. "You're actually controlling molecules," she said. "Stopping them when you _freeze,_ exciting them from zero to a hundred when you're exploding, and now you're exciting them slower, drying out the wood, enough and you might cause it to burst into flames or shatter."

Piper let out a long breath, pushing back the questions that were already bubbling up at the back of her mind.

"I hate these hell forsaken powers," Piper muttered. "You think you have them figured out and there's a new aspect of it to get used to."

"But we can figure it out," said Prue, "if you calm down and let me figure this out." Piper grit her teeth, pushing to keep herself calm. "Phoebe, how good at you at pushing visions?"

"Getting pretty good," she answered. "But we need to get on bringing Paige here. We're not the only ones with an eye on the future, between the Seer, the Angels of Destiny and other witches with a power similar to mine, they might figure out what we know."

"Is it safe for us to be out there?" asked Prue.

Phoebe shook her head. "Leo won't know what's going on, but he'll have spoken to the Elders nonetheless. They'll be watching us and they might see something if one of them is looking at the future."

"But we can call her," said Piper as memories of the book came to the fore. "Calling a Lost Witch. That might be a shock to her system though, bringing her into this world."

"We have to ask the question," said Prue. "Do we induct her into this world as was done with us? Because from the way things are looking it might be more danger her being with us than her being on her own. Looking forward?"

Phoebe looked like she'd just returned from a vision. "I don't know," she said. "I don't see her in the future. I think someone might be blocking me."

"Then the more prudent thing is to bring her here," said Prue. "Put her to sleep until we can figure things out. Hopefully we can come out of this with her knowing as little as possible before breaking the rest to her."

"Only option we have for the time being," said Piper. "But I'm noticing more and more that we're doing a lot in a short amount of time. Between this, the Elders, dealing with Javna."

"We need to prioritise," said Prue. "Our sister first. Get her out of danger and then we look into Javna and then finally deal with the whole business with the Elders."

"I'll get started on the preparations on the spell," said Piper.

"I'll keep looking at the future or the past," said Phoebe. "Give us a better image of what's been going on. Maybe we can find help from other witches."

"And I'll…practice with the new form of my ability," said Prue. "It will be helpful in the long run. Communicating to the outside world while staying under the protection of the house. Matter of fact maybe we should prepare potions, offensive measures in case something comes into the house."

"Good idea," said Phoebe. "But that would require ingredients, something that would mean we'd have to go out."

"Danger?" asked Prue.

"I'll have to look," said Phoebe. "But I have to wonder at some point if there's going to be backlash on constantly using my ability like this. You guys are a little lucky, you use your abilities in short spurts."

Piper was already shaking her head. "I used my powers for more than an hour and I didn't feel any differently. I don't get the feeling that we're drawing power from something."

"Or we are and we're drawing from something powerful," said Phoebe. "That prophecy did say we were the culmination of a very powerful prophecy."

"Don't remind me about that, please," Piper muttered. She took a breath, pushing back the upsurge of fear and anger that she was starting to feel. "We will need to go out though. Something else to plan on. It might be a wise idea to hire someone to do outside business for us."

"Putting another person in danger," Prue said. She shook her head. "No. We'll go out there ourselves. It won't help us to be stuck in this house for the rest of our lives. We'll just keep running the situation past Phoebe, looking at the future and planning on how we'll deal with everything until we come out of it alright."

"Calling Paige first, though," said Phoebe. She was smiling, an excited look on her. "I can't wait to see her. I've always wanted to a younger sister."

"I'll get started on that," said Piper.

She scaled through the house and into the attic. It was surprising how stock Grams had had on hand and it didn't take much time to find the requirements: Rosemary, Cypress and Yarrow root. A small knife, a pestle and a silver mortar. Beyond that the only requirement was the Book of Shadows.

Prue led the spell and it went without a hitch. Saying the incantation, Prue ground the various elements nothing overt happened, but when Prue added her blood there was a shimmering in the air before a girl appeared.

"What—" she started but Phoebe was already moving through her iteration of a sleeping beauty spell. The girl slumped all at once, Prue catching her so she wouldn't hit her head.

"This is her," said Prue, still holding the girl in her telekinetic grip. She let out a long breath. "She's different from what I imagined."

Phoebe was grinning. "Our youngest sister," she said. "God, how I wish we were meeting under different circumstances."

"This has me thinking though," said Piper. She couldn't take her eyes off the girl, but even so her mind was moving forward, already on the next task. "What about the power of three? There are four sisters. Will our power wain or something?"

"For that matter shouldn't her powers have activated?" said Prue. "The colder part of me thinks that this might be some help in everything we've been doing, even if it diminishes the Power of Three. All things being the same, though, we should probably talk to grams about this. If that's going to be even possible. We might be in some heavenly blacklist."

"Similar spell," said Phoebe. "We can do it now. Get it out of the way."

Prue nodded and they began, quickly moving through the spell until two women stood in the middle of the room, the older of the two wearing a smirk while the younger looked distraught with worry.

"You girl sure have been busy," said Grams.

"You know what we've been doing?" asked Prue.

"No," said Patty. "But the Elders have been up here, asking questions. They're worried that you might have fallen in evil's path."

"Told them they were crazy, of course," said Grams. "I raised smart girls. Efficient about whatever they're want, especially when they have goals in mind."

"I don't feel like that now, though," said Piper. "I'm feeling too scared to think logically and I think all my thoughts are geared towards that."

"All _our_ thoughts," said Prue. "Especially after we found out about Paige."

Both of them stopped at that. "You know," said Patty and even in those two words her voice broke.

"I had a vision of the past," said Phoebe. "Of you and Grams deciding it was better to hide her because of the Elders. We thought…Well I thought that she might be in danger."

"That's worrying," said Grams. "Especially to one with the gift of Premonition. What's going on, Phoebe?"

"Before I answer I have to ask, how much sway do the Elders have in your…dimension? In heaven? Wherever you both are?"

"They have a lot of sway in that they played a part in building this place," said Patty. "But beyond that there are immutable rules. What they can and can't do. Why? What are you girls planning that's got you this paranoid?"

"I think it might be a good idea to overthrow the Elders," said Piper without even really thinking it through. These were people she could trust, her family, she trusted that between them or the 'higher power' they would choose them.

"You want to overthrow the Elders?" said Patty, slowly. "Why?"

"Because they're perpetuating a broken system," said Piper, thinking it through for the first time. "With the way they're doing things, evil has the upper hand and the only thing truly holding them back is utter stupidity.

"Beyond that there's the fact they make up rules that don't make sense in the greater scheme of what they're trying to achieve. Personal gain is one of them, if it didn't exist then we could use our abilities to greater fight evil, but even beyond that why do abilities have to disappear if they aren't being used in the way the Elders want.

"The more and more I think about it, it seems like the system is gamed to turn witches into warlocks. Instead of putting up a state of neutrality in place."

"But why overthrow?" asked Grams. "Why not talk to the Elders?"

"The same reason you and Grams chose to just hide Paige instead of talking to the Elders," Piper answered. "Because whether we want to admit it or not, the Elders with the help of the Angels of Destiny, are in complete control of our lives. At this very moment they could very well be altering events so we're indebted to them."

"Those are two different things," said Patty. "But I understand why you could jump to that. Piper, you have to understand that the Elders are ultimately good…"

"Which is something better heard from us directly," said a new voice. The three of them turned in the direction, Piper's hands already moving to make the man exploded and Paige already pulling things and pushing them towards the man.

A shield appeared over the man, large enough that it protected him from both of their attacks. The thing disappeared as the attacks faded.

"Calm, sisters," the man said. "I mean you no harm. I am Ramus, the foremost seer for the Elders."

"Because that should calm them down," Grams muttered. "I need a seat. Chair there, come here, rest my derriere." A chair came within their field of vision and Grams sat heavily. "This should be fun. Well go on, then."

Ramus gave Grams a long suffering scowl before he let out a huff.

"Whitelighter Wyatt tells us you have questions," said Ramus. "And unfortunately the Angels of Destiny are worried about the ever changing future. I'm here to alleviate any concerns, in the hope to avoid any future complications."

"I don't like the fact that they sent someone who can see the future here," said Prue.

"More so if you know how this whole thing works," said Phoebe. "I just looked forward. Really forward, trying to field this conversation but a me from the future so me. She told me how this all works, premonitions along with the Grand Design. You're killing a lot of people by even agreeing to this."

"What's that mean?" asked Prue.

"I can't remember which of us said it," said Phoebe. "But it was said nonetheless that a predicting the future as well as fate or destiny can't exist in place were I have visions and I can change them. The me in the future explained that it doesn't work like that, instead there's only one universe."

"You're not making any sense," said Prue.

"Okay, so there's the theory that every decision causes a split, creating different timelines, different event." Piper and Prue nodded. The Elder, along with the spirit, were surprisingly quiet. "Well, the Grand Design can only exist if there's one universe, because can't really be true if there are different events all along one another.

"So the Angels of Destiny prune these events. They see the greater tree that's forming and they cut off the branches that they don't want, in essence keeping the flow of the future that they want."

"What do you mean when you say prune?" asked Prue.

"She means that they destroy the timelines that deviate too much from the future we seek," said Ramus. "Like this timeline is proving to be in all honesty." Ramus sighed and Piper felt dread filling her stomach. The same look was spread out amongst her sisters.

"You can't destroy an entire universe," said Patty.

"For the greater good we have no choice but to," he said. "Evil comes easy to this universe. A pattern we Elders have seen through look into the future. This is the greatest chance to ensuring that good triumph at the end."

"By destroying the entire universe?" Prue said, her tone laden with anger. "In what world does that make sense."

"In a world where you have the entire image set out before you," Ramus answered.

"I think I can stop this," said Phoebe and then she jumped to the side just as threads of electricity-like light speared where she'd just beam.

"With me girls," said Patty. "When in the circle that is home, safety's gone and evils roam, save us sisters three now heed our call."

Patty and Grams said the spell but the three of them couldn't join; Piper had fired an explosion at the man and though it had landed, he'd quickly reformed. A large table was flying through the air only to be stopped by the force field.

The man fired his electricity to freeze in place. The man conjured another shield at some unseen attack and it warped, faltering enough that Piper could freeze the man.

They joined the spell, saying it thrice before the man exploded into bits of blue light which themselves twinkled out.

"Okay," said Phoebe. "This buys us time but I'd like it if we were protected. I'm running on theory at this point. I don't know if this might actually work backwards but it's worth a try."

"Stop explaining and just do," said Prue. "Protection spells? Wards?"

"They won't be as powerful with just the both of you but with this room it should keep them at bay long enough that they don't stop you," said Grams. "But you should get Paige, first. They'll most likely use her against you?"

"I'll do it," said Prue before rushing out of the room. She ran out of the room and it was moments later that the entire house shook. Prue appeared. "Start the spell Piper."

"It will stop you too," said Patty.

"I know," said Prue.

Piper began the spell reciting it with her mother and grandmother. She felt something close to strain the more she said the spell, the more power she put behind it. The house shook again, this time harsher, the sound of splintering wood reverberating from outside.

There was another boom, shaking the entire house but this time lines drawing themselves out on the walls. The next boom came quicker with more power behind it, the cracks on the walls becoming thicker and sections of the wall falling off.

Another boom and an entire section of the wall fell off. Piper stopped, her legs giving up at the loss of strength, her breath coming out harsh. A woman appeared, golden light preceding her.

"The message has been sent," said Phoebe. She too sounding tired.

"You've ruined plans set in motion before even you were but a thought," the woman said, anger in her tone.

Piper shrugged. "Guess you'll have to have played it differently in the other timelines."

"We'll salvage this," she said. "You're not the first to seek to interfere with the Grand Design."

The woman snapped her fingers and then there was nothing.

AN: Even if it looks like that. This story isn't complete yet.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

All at once Piper was met by a surge of images. In a series, running in fast-forward and still her mind could comprehend it all. The events of the last few days and the events of the future, herself in a state of panic and destroying things; she saw witch-craft, spells being cast and potions being named; and she saw the worst sight, a woman about to destroy the entire universe.

"Piper?" said Jeremy and instinct Piper hadn't known she had come to the fore. Her hands pointed forward and a ball of fire was envisioned in her mind; panic showed itself on Jeremy's face but the man was already moving, pushing himself to the side. The explosion went off and her power hit a section of wall.

Jeremy rolled and came to his feet, a grin appearing on his features. Piper noticed for the first time that she had found her feet too, her heart was beating faster and adrenaline was filling her system. She _remembered_ that this man was dangerous, that it had taken the Power of Three to kill him before.

"You've manifested," he said, his grin spread wider and a chuckle just waiting to erupt. "I knew if I waited enough that I'd—" he stopped before he could finish the sentence.

"Piper," a new voice said and the instinct kicked in again. Piper whirled around and fired, the explosion detonated against another wall. Piper let out a breath of relief when Prue came out of the attack untouched. "Good," said Prue. "It happened to you too."

"Yes," said Piper. "But what is it?"

"—be able to—" The man froze again before he could finish. Why was it so much easier to freeze than to destroy, she had time to think. It was the same power, it shouldn't have been different, there shouldn't have been any delay just like there wasn't any delay in her freezing.

"I don't think we can discuss that," said Prue. "Not after what happened? Are you coming back to the house?"

"Yeah," said Piper. "But what will we do with him? Should I kill him again."

Prue hesitated before she shook her head. "Do you think you'd be able to bring him with you? He might help us in the long run."

Piper sighed. "I hate it, but I get it," she said. She took another breath and focused on just the man's head, imagining the ball of fire. She flicked her hands and Jeremy's said, "get your powers."

He tried to move but it didn't work. Confusion appeared on his features and from the strain he could see the man was fighting to move.

"I've frozen you," said Piper. "But of my abilities as a witch."

"You know," he said, sounding confused.

"Of course I know," she said. "Do you think Grams would just leave us in this world without equipping us with protection?"

More and more was starting to make sense when she looked at the greater whole. She'd thought before that Phoebe was perhaps projecting herself to her younger self, but as she felt out the new memories that were surfacing, she knew that it was Grams that she had these instincts. There was more to it, more she didn't know or understand, but right now she had to focus on this.

"Now you have to decide, do I kill you now or do you want a chance at becoming useful? Because the former would be really easy for me to do," she said, flicking her hand to make the television exploded.

She was more than a little surprised that no one had come calling yet.

"Fine," the man said. "Now let me go."

Piper snorted. "I'm not that stupid," she said. She flicked her hands but instead of unfreezing the man, she dulled down the effect of her powers, making it so he moved slower. "Try anything and I'll blow you up."

It took a little while to move in his slowed state and Piper was prudent enough to keep reapplying the effect. There was a problem though when he tried for Jeremy to enter the house because it barred him, at the stimuli Piper remember all the occasions Jeremy had declined visit her home.

As she thought on the problem, though, answers came to her.

"I, Piper Halliwell, grant passage to Jeremy Burns, so long as he abides by the rules of hospitality. Were he to renege on this, he'll be subject to the full might of the Halliwell line. Do you accept?"

"It's not like I have a choice," the man muttered under his breath. "I accept." He walked through without much problem.

"Make yourself at home," said Piper. "Within reason of course."

Jeremy strut into the sitting room, looking around with interest at everything. He tried to touch a vase filled with strange flowers and then hissed as though burned. He looked back at Piper before he smirked, Piper had the irrational urge to smite the man but she held it back.

"Prue! Phoebe! Any of you here?" she shouted but nothing happened.

There wasn't an answer and she felt worrying starting to bubble into her stomach before she pushed it back, focusing on the past and her memories. What the Elders and the Angel of Death were doing was deplorable, destroying entire timelines to keep to their image of the Grand Design.

The more she thought about it the more it made sense, how _evil_ could be so dumb, not taking the obvious answers that she would have under the same circumstances. Because if they did, then that timeline would be destroyed, leaving only the timeline in which the decision hadn't been made. The Source would know this if he had other people who had visions of the future and would thus value his own survival in that specific timeline all while furthering his goals.

This still brought with it problems though—

"I'm curious," said Jeremy, breaking her line of thought. "Why you brought me here."

Piper sighed and flicked her hands towards the warlock. Jeremy reacted though, swiping a hand and moving a table towards Piper. The table stopped before it could hit and Jeremy beyond didn't.

He grinned. "Knew you'd do that," he said. "Which is the reason the house didn't attack me." Even with the confident there was a hint of relief in his voice.

Piper let out another sigh. "I'll tell you when my sister arrive," she said. "Because even I don't know yet. Now please shut up, I'm trying to think."

She ran back on the thoughts or at least tried to before she found herself at a blank. She had to test something first. "Leo!" she said and waited on baited breath, the whitelighter didn't appear.

"Who's Leo?" asked Jeremy. "Come now, Piper, don't tell me you've been seeing someone else."

"One more word from you and I'll curse your mouth shut," Piper said with a scowl.

"And here I was thinking you were a good witch," he said. Piper felt he fingers clench into fists, her mind running through the painful variations she could use on him: burning his clothes, breaking his bones, caught his heart to beat slower but she pushed it all back.

She tried thinking on this and saw that she was just redirecting how she felt, pushing towards anger instead of the fear she was feeling mostly for her sisters, but for the greater world, the greater play.

The had a very powerful enemy on their hands, the Angels of Destiny. They'd broken through a spell of protection and had enough raw power that they could destroy entire timelines, but Piper found herself confused by something, why had the Angels of Destiny been trying to stop them in the first place?

If they knew the future, then wasn't it possible that they already knew that a betrayal had been planned by their future selves? Why weren't they here stopping them? Unless there were some rules on the ability? Unless there was an even broader scope that they didn't know about.

"Jeremy," said Piper walking into a drawing room. The man was there, running a hand just above books that were on display, some were new, magical. "How much do you know about time magic?"

"A little," he said with a shrug. "But before that we need to broker a deal. I don't want to die at the end of all this? How about you don't kill me and I'll give you all the information you want."

"No deal," said Piper. "You were going to kill me. That makes me think you were planning the same with a myriad of other witches. We can't have that. It would go against the entirety of the good witches shtick that I have to keep up."

"You really going to deny me that fun?" said Jeremy pouting a little. He came close to Piper, putting on the same eyes that had made her fall for him in the first place. Against her better judgement she felt a mixture of different emotions, the happy coming to the fore and she felt emotion filling her up.

She took the emotions and twisted them, turning them into a dulled sort of anger. She felt her hands moving but she stopped the motion, instead focusing the ball, it detonated, smacking Jeremy off his feet.

He was grinning as he came to his feet. "You're different," he said, brushing himself off. "I think I like this new Piper. I find her hot."

Piper hated that she was riled up so easily. But her emotions were closer to the surface. Memories came easier and they disturbed the emotions surrounding them. Perhaps it was a part of the spell.

"Time magic, now," said Piper. The glass next to the man shattering, but the pieces of glass didn't touch him.

"Right, right," he said. "It's not something that can be pulled off easily by any witch, warlock or magical being. Even the major forces it drains them heavily. You and your sisters, the whole legend surrounding you three, I think you might be able to pull it off but you'd earn a lot of ire from the people who keep track of that sort of thing."

"They being?" asked Piper.

"Seers from various sides of good and evil," he answered. "Even some neutrals. Why are you asking all this, anyway? Scared they'll come after you after they find out what you did?"

"I didn't travel back in time," she said, which was technically true if she answered what he expected and not what had actually happened. In essence they were the same thing.

"Funnily, I believe that," he said. "Anyway, you've got me interested in whatever it is you and your sisters are planning. How about…I stick around for a while, learn the trade and maybe I'll get my fill of power."

"I'm curious about something," said Piper as she thought over the deal. It would help, sure, but she didn't really trust the man much, even though a part of her wanted to trust him. "Why did you decide to become a warlock in the first place?"

"I had a week power," he said with shrug. "Or a power I couldn't really leverage." He held up his hands and his nails darkened, sharpening into points before stretching outwards. "Hard as nails," he said with a goofy grin.

"But not really much because I can't fight. Heard that if killed someone with the right instrument I would get their powers. Then I see this old man lament about the curse of his power and I was angry. I killed him, got his power, got the rush of it and I've been hooked ever since."

"What about the spells?" Piper asked. "Just make up a stupid rhyme and you can do an effect."

"For you maybe," he said. He let out breath in exasperation. "But the rest of us it isn't like that. It takes a lot of power even to perform a basic spell of levitation, not mentioning the fact that I don't come from a family of witches in the first place. Can't do potions or spells that require exotic ingredients. This was the easier way out."

"Right," said Piper. "Still don't get it beyond that. There's a high risk, high reward factor in all of this, sure. But failure means the wrong witch and almost certain death."

Jeremy shrugged. "I've been lucky so far. Anyway, what are you and your sisters—" A small vial flew through the air, slamming into Jeremy, there was a small flash of blue light before it disappeared, another bottle and when it hit, the man was frozen.

Piper turned in the direction to find Prue and Piper.

"Attic, now," said Prue. "That should last for an hour."

Piper nodded and followed her sisters up the stairs into the attic. They closed the door and she saw a golden shimmer passing through the entire room before it faded. More protections, she had to wonder if there was any chance of them holding up if they were attacked by another Angel of Destiny.

"All of us got our memories?" said Prue. Phoebe and Piper nodded. "Good. Phoebe, that was genius what you did, but it might be for nought because they might be after us right now."

"How do we even prepare for them?" asked Phoebe.

"It might help if we knew the exact specifications of their powers," said Piper. "Or, if not that, we need to get more powerful."

"Does the amount of power transfer over when our memories move backward in time?" asked Prue. "Because it will be useless if it isn't like that and we spend a lot of our time training."

"But it might be the best way to go," said Phoebe. "Right now we really don't have much to do with them, but if we had enough clout it might be possible."

"You have a plan?" asked Prue.

"I might," she said. "But I'll have to search the future."

"Do it," said Prue. "In the meantime, we need to contact Grams. Get an image of what she was doing with the images you sent to her."

"I'll get everything prepared," said Piper.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

"Hello my lovely girls," said Grams with a smile on her. "It took you long enough until you contacted me."

"We've just recently got our memories back," said Phoebe. "Lucky for me I was taking a break from riding my bike or I might have seriously hurt myself."

Grams tsked. "Simple spell and that would have been fixed right up," she said. "Anyway, what have you girls been doing?"

"Invited my warlock ex-boyfriend into the house," said Piper.

"Don't worry about it, hun," the woman said. "We've all had our dalliances with the darker side."

"You've protected the house?" said Prue. "How strong is the protection. Would it be able to take on a full assault?"

"No unfortunately," said Grams. "Even with all our power we can't fully protect ourselves from them. The only thing your mother and I could achieve was building protections while she was pregnant with Prue. We made it look as though we were afraid of demons attacking the house, which was a real possibility now that I think about it."

"What about Paige? Should we call her in?"

"I don't know," said Grams. "This was your plan from the beginning, I was only working so the part I could play could come into fruition. Beyond that, it's up to you to decide."

"How well hidden is she?" Piper asked.

"They don't know of her existence," said Grams. "Your mother and I ensured that, we also worked the spell so that only the three of you would have their powers activated. Since she's still, for lack of a better word, mundane, she's unlikely to attract anyone nasty."

"Except if they're looking towards the future," said Phoebe. "Or the past. I was able to find her. It's not too much to think that they might be able to do the same."

"But those were special circumstances," Grams said. "You were looking for trouble along your line. It makes sense that you would find her."

"By that logic someone also looking to destroy us, with an eye for the past, might find her, even accidently," said Prue. "Even if they look too far forward, they might see us in a timeline where we need her help."

"Calling Paige will earn _their_ gaze," said Grams.

"The question becomes, do we care more about our sister or our goals for the future?" said Piper.

"We should call her," said Prue. "Even if it earns their attention we'll deal with it. We're not going to sacrifice family for this."

"Let's start the spell," said Phoebe.

"Wait, before we do," said Prue. "If we're doing this then we can't just put her to sleep like the last time. We'll have to fill her in, see her power, ensure it grows so that even if she doesn't want to join us in the future she'll at least be able to protect herself."

"You think we're going to fail again?" asked Phoebe.

"It would be very egotistical for us to think otherwise," said Prue. "It makes more sense if we think of this as a trial run for the greater act, trying out different strategies, all of it culminating in the final timeline."

"But that would mean we would be pushing all the other timelines under the bus," said Phoebe, sounding aghast.

"Do we have a choice?" Prue said and thinking on it Piper found that she agreed on it. They were facing a force that even the Source of All Evil was having trouble taking down if she was right on her thoughts.

"Prue's right," said Piper. "Right now the Angels are causing wide spread genocide on a whim. If we win this, even if it's further ahead with many iterations as possible, we'll still be creating an infinite timelines. Giving all of them a sense of free will."

"That's to play then," said Phoebe. "We're aiming for the greatest accumulation of knowledge, of power." She let out a breath. "Which means I'll have to keep sending information back to Grams."

"Wait," said Prue. "If you're doing that, then shouldn't that immediately translate to now? Getting new knowledge because you've sent it back?"

"Not with how our grade of time travel works," said Piper. "We're creating new timelines with everything we send back. In a sense we're still living on, but if we die now, then the _here_ us is really dead."

"I'm finding I'm starting to hate quasi-time travel," Phoebe muttered. "Let's get this started. We have at most forty five minutes before Jeremy unfreezes and I have the feeling we'll spend a majority of the time explaining."

The three of them nodded and they began, and as Phoebe predicted it took a lot of explaining before Paige finally accepted the truth.

"So you're my sisters?" said Paige said as she paced in the attic. Piper was struck by the girl, she was on the tall side with dark hair and a very familiar cast to her features: When she looked at her eyes should could see Prue's stubbornness, the contours of the face belonged to Grams and her impatience was definitely Phoebe's.

There were the oddities too. She was a little tall, a little too thin with a gangly gait to her. Piper didn't notice that she'd been smiling in all the time that she was staring at Paige, feeling a swell of emotions and holding back the intense impulse to wrap the girl in a hug.

"…scared," Prue finished, an explanation Piper had entirely missed.

"Then why did you bring me here?" said Paige. "If it was dangerous that I was even born?" There was a hitch to her voice, though the girl tried to hide it.

"Because for one thing you're our sister," said Phoebe. "And nothing, not even the Elders, can keep us away from you."

Not a direct answer to the question, Piper felt, but from the small shifts of the girl's expression Piper had the image that Phoebe must have looked at the future for the answer. It was getting eerie how much control Phoebe was getting over her ability, it was even getting to the point where her expression didn't even seem far off when she was in the middle of her visions.

More than anything, though, it was the fact that she could use them to manoeuvre social interactions. It was the worst sort of manipulation, but right now it was being used to cut down this conversation and send them moving forward.

"So I apparently have powers and sisters and my life is in danger," she said.

"Not really," said Prue. "I don't think the Elders know just yet."

"And even if they do what can they do?" asked Phoebe. "If they attack our sister then they're jading our image of them, they increase the chance of us turning into warlocks."

Paige sighed. "You guys look like you have a lot on your hands and I'm not liking the general thread," she said. "It was really nice meeting all of you and I want to meet you again, but I think I need time to deal."

"You can't leave," said Prue.

Paige's expression shifted.

"No," said Phoebe. "She can. Her powers aren't activated yet. We pulled her out when she was alone and we can send her back. No one should be watching her so no one will have noticed she was gone."

"Right," said Paige. "Send me back, please."

"We'll have to restructure the spell," said Piper and she realised that she was speaking for the first time. "It shouldn't take too long."

888

"This is starting to bore me," said Jeremy. "Being frozen all the time. You might as well smite me. I might have more fun as a demon."

"Don't tempt me," said Piper, shooting a scowl at the man who'd just unfrozen. The sister had shared a few moment's speech after Paige had been returned home and they'd reached a something of a plan. For this iteration of their travels, they'd do as the Elders wanted while gathering as much information as they could.

"We've found what you're going to do," said Prue. "More than anything we need information."

"Information?" said Jeremy, a frown appearing. "You're the Charmed One, you come from a long family line. Anything you need to know you can just get from that book…it's real, right? The Book of Shadows?"

"The book's limited," said Phoebe. "If gives us names of demons and other creatures that have been faced in the past, but it doesn't give anything on the smarter players out there."

"Which is where you come in," said Prue. "We want you to establish power in the Underworld."

Jeremy let out a long chuckled, a moment passing before he stopped, looking at the sisters with bulging eyes.

"Please tell me you're kidding me," he said. "I'm just a warlock. I haven't even figured out how to blink and you want me in the Underworld? Facing demons? You're all crazy."

"But you'll have our backing," said Piper. "If we play this right, play it smart, then any competitors in your way might find that they're vanquished by the Charmed Ones."

"That doesn't seem like it would work," said Jeremy.

"It will," said Phoebe. "And even if it doesn't we'll scrap this timeline and go back, to where you're alive. Place this right and you'll have our immortality too."

Jeremy was grinning now. "You really are from the future," he said.

"In a manner of speaking," said Phoebe. Piper wanted to have doubts but who knew when Phoebe was looking as she spoke to all of them. "It's up to you if you want to join our quasi-immortal group."

"I do," he said. "Fuck me this is exciting just thinking about it. But," he said. "How does this tie into Piper's orders? I'm not supposed to kill anyone."

"Any witches," Piper corrected. "I don't mind you doing anything to warlocks. Matter of fact we already have a target for you. Someone who'll make the process a little easier for you, and you won't need to kill."

Jeremy was still grinning. "When do we start?" he said.

"In about two months," said Phoebe. "But right now you have to lay low. You have to fight your way out of here and make it look convincing. If you're really working with us then the house won't attack you. But I should warn you, Jeremy, of the futures where you've tried to betray us, we've succeeded in not just vanquishing you, but destroying you completely."

A silence hung in the air, palpable enough that it sent shivers running up Piper's spine. The same, she saw, could be said for Jeremy because the warlock looked visibly pale.

"I'll take that as a warning," Jeremy said, having to clear his throat to get the entire statement through. "I'm going to attack you now."

"Make it good," said Phoebe a millisecond before tables started flying in their direction.

 _Play this seriously,_ Piper reminded herself even as she waved a hand making two objects explode, sending splinters flying; in the same moment Prue pushed out both her hands, shoving Jeremy back while Phoebe was running back, heading upstairs.

Piper flicked her hands as Jeremy jumped, lunging for the window. The man stopped, frozen for a second, before he continued forward, crashing through the window. The protections had been broken and if the Elders were watching no doubt they'd see that something was wrong.

Prue's hands outstretched before she grabbed and pulled. Jeremy didn't hit the ground, instead he was pulled back into the house before Piper hit him with and explosion. The two forces added together into something that sent the man flying sideways. He landed and flicked out a hand, sending everything towards them.

Piper tried to freeze but there was too much furniture, only catching three before she was pushed to the side by Prue. Looking in the direction Piper could see Prue almost flying away in the opposite direction.

When she'd found her feet and ran outside, Piper could see Jeremy had already ran and instead there was a concerned looking Leo standing at the edge of the property.

Piper reacted as was needed for someone in her position, who'd just been attacked by a warlock in her own home and started attacking the whitelighter only for the man to disappear in his signature blue light matter, not exactly going away, but moving a few feet to his left.

"Don't attack," he said, hands held in surrender. "I'm a good guy. Your whitelighter."

"You're Leo," said Prue. "The come in and the more prudent question—" a snort came from inside the house, Piper looked and it was Phoebe. "—is what took you so long if you're supposed to be our protector."

"The wards around the house," said Leo. "I can't hear you. You didn't vanquish him the first opportunity you had," he said. "Why?"

"Information gathering," said Prue. "Grams gave us the basics in her time, but the world's changed since we were kids. We thought he might know."

"Hubris on our part," said Phoebe. "He tricked us." She took a few steps down, walking closer to Leo and extending a hand, it was eerie how different this was to the Phoebe that had been in the house and more like the Phoebe before this entire magic thing happened.

"Phoebe Halliwell," she said, taking Leo's hand. "Grams told us that we had a whitelighter, but she didn't mention anything on how hot he was."

Leo blushed at that.

"Really, Phoebe," said Prue, exasperation in his voice. "You're flirting now. Let's get inside, he might be hiding and just waiting to attack us."

The sisters nodded between each other before they entered the house.

"You too," said Prue to Leo. "We're hoping you can tell us about the present atmosphere between good and evil."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Javna landed on the far side of the wall, unable to move. Flashes of light would fly out of his eyes at intervals but Piper had progressed to the point that she could freeze things with a glare. It made her wonder, though, if the specifications of her powers were indeed true or it was something Phoebe had said to help her make sense of it all.

It didn't make sense that this could be molecular manipulation when he could freeze energy, or at least that was what she assumed the beams of green light were which Javna had tried to fire at them.

" _Evil eyes, look unto thee,"_ they intoned. _"May they extinguished be, bend thy will to the Power of Three, eye of earth, evil and accursed."_

Prue, who was standing in the middle of their configuration held out her hand, a snake snaking its way over it before a thick beam of light flew outwards; it stretched even larger as it moved through the air, large enough that it encapsulated him. When it hit, the man was eviscerated.

"I still think we could have played this better," said Piper. "What about the other woman we missed? Those that had their youth sucked out."

"I doubt we could have found a way to undo that," said Prue. "Even with our magic. We didn't know much about him beyond the surface level stuff. Maybe a spell might have counted it but that wouldn't make sense in the greater dimension of how magic works."

As Prue spoke Piper nodded because though she didn't know all the rules of magic, logic still applied. Javna had needed to refuel on youth, which meant he burnt through the stuff like gasoline, that they would be able to bring something burnt up back seemed truly impossible. Except if time travel was possible, or if they had…

"Leo!" she said and this earned the confusion of her sisters. The man orbed into the room not a moment sooner, his face expectant. "Does the fountain of youth exist?"

"I think so, why? What's going on?" the whitelighter asked.

"Aren't you supposed to be keeping an eye on us?" said Prue. "How does that work if you can't see what we're doing?"

"It doesn't work like that," Leo explained. "I can hear everything my charges say, feel their emotional states if there aren't any magical interferences. I can't really handle all of this…I mean, sure I can, but I don't like listening to everything going on in people's lives. So I've taught myself to temper it down, I only actively listen when I feel people in distress, or if they call my name."

"So we weren't in distress enough for you to come running?" asked Phoebe.

Leo nodded. "You still haven't told me about the Fountain of Youth," he said. "Using it on yourselves would constitute personal gain and—"

"Yeah, we get it," Piper interrupted. "Doing nice things for yourself is bad. That wasn't the intention. The demon we just fought, he sucks up youth, leaving people old. I was thinking we can give those people back their youth."

"Good idea," said Phoebe. "We can even use his demon dust to scry for the people whose youth he's already taken. With my pre- and retrocognition it should be a cinch figuring things out."

"I'll have to ask the Elders," he said. "Can you give me a day? Two at most?"

The three nodded and Leo orbed out. They didn't speak, but Piper could see it a little, the shared realisation running through all of them. They already had a way of counter Leo, but, more worryingly, it was possible that Leo might already suspect that not all was well. After all, they hadn't panicked even as they had been attacked in their own home.

888

It couldn't be molecular control Piper realised after pain staking hours reading through the library's science sector and sitting in on some physics classes. From the little that she'd understood on molecular control, it was more in line with Prue's telekinesis than her power, which was the reason she was asking Sarah Lineman.

"What's this about again?" she asked, she had a weathered look about her, as though she was on the cusp of having a nervous breakdown.

"My curiosity," said Piper. "It's something I have an interest in."

"I'm sorry, lady," the girl said. "But I'm really busy. I've got a test in two weeks and every second I have should be spent studying."

"This won't take more than a second," said Piper. "Just explain to me how it would be possible to do the things I've said."

Sarah sighed. "Fine," she said. "But I want a named character and a free copy."

"What?"

Sarah snorted. "I want to see how this book of yours will turn out. I mean I get it, it's something I've thought about too. Literature with powers doesn't really make sense because those powers to make sense from a psychics perspective. You get me a named character and I'll tell you how that could work."

"You got me," said Piper with a small grin. "It might take a while, though. I'm still working through the rough drafts, that's not even mentioning that I might scrap the entire thing and choose a different premise."

She shrugged. "Worth the gamble," said Sarah. "Any way, the thing you described sounds like manipulating time to be honest…except you said you want it to be molecular control?"

"That's what my sister said," said Piper. "But I thought that telekinesis might be molecular control."

"Which it is," Sarah replied. "The power you described is also a form of molecular control but it's more limited. The power would be controlling the vibrations of the particles that make up an object."

"But how would that work towards exploding things?"

"I don't think there'd be a lot of fire in that situation. More dry explosions. Imagine the character used the power on a tree, since she won't be only targeting the wood for example, but the tree as a whole, the character would be speeding the entire thing up. The water molecules would be excited into a gas, expand and then shatter the tree.

"The same principle could work on other states of matter," she went on. "Freezing by stopping or slowing the vibrations of the molecules and exploding thing but rapidly causing them to change states. It might look like an explosion because gas particles have weak attractive forces…well weaker, it gets a little complicated when you _really_ think about it."

"What about energy? The ability wouldn't work on it, right?"

"No, it wouldn't. Man, you're really putting a lot of thought in this."

"I'm a little obsessive about small details," said Piper with a small smile. "Is there any state of matter, then, that looks eerily like energy?"

"Plasma," said Sarah. "The fourth state of matter."

So if she was going by this, then it was likely that Javna's beams were in fact, plasma. One question answered and still a greater understanding of her ability, what it could and couldn't affect. With this limitation, she made sure to ingrain it in her mind that she wouldn't be able to stop fire.

"There's even a fifth state of matter," Sarah went on. "But even I have trouble grasping that, much less simplifying it."

"You've been a tremendous help," said Piper, she stood, grabbing her and leaving. She was lucky enough that no one paid attention as she moved, instead caught in their little worlds, which was the reason probably none of them noticed as Prue appeared—but then that might have been something to do with Phoebe.

"Prue? What's going on?" she asked.

"I think I've got five seconds," she said. "We won't be at home. Demon activity in the city. We can handle it."

"Okay," Piper said but Prue had already disappeared. She continued walking only to look back as she heard footsteps behind her, too much in a hurry for her to just ignore it.

She turned to see a young man, hair dark and a familiar cast to his features. Piper was struck by that, but the more paranoid part of her was at the ready, focusing on stopping the man before he could reach her. She flicked her hands and nothing happened.

"Oh, no," said Piper, stumbling back and letting him mind run lose, imaging how to play this. If he was resistant to her freezing then it was highly probable that moving his molecules would be hard.

 _Think fast because he's closing the distance,_ she thought before an idea hit. She could hit him directly but perhaps indirectly.

She pointed her hands and the young man's eyes bulged before he disappeared in a flurry of small blue circles. Piper stopped before she could fire the thing, noticing that people were looking where the man had disappeared.

He appeared beside Piper, engulfing her in a hug. "Don't attack," she heard his say before she felt herself breaking apart and being reformed almost instantaneously.

The boy stumbled away, his hands raised to make sure Piper didn't attack him. "Mom, don't kill me!" he said, eyes closed and head turned to the side.

 _What?_

888

AN: Not a physicist and the research put into this chapter was meagre, most of it coming from the fact that plasma is really hard to encapsulate because it's complicated. Some stuff may be wrong, correct me and I'd fix up the chapter.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Explain. Now," said Piper her hands at the ready even though she knew they most likely would be useless. This _had_ to be a trick, because for a child of hers to be here, now, especially at his age, was…impossible?

Not exactly impossible but improbable. There were rules when it came to time magic, Jeremy has said as much, not mentioning that it was more likely that this was the work of a demon than anyone else. But as she looked at him she could at least consider it a possibility because he looked so familiar, and the more she looked at him the more she saw the reason why: Prue's eyes and Phoebe's lithe features, but all of it was lost in something else.

Against her better judgement she felt something as she looked at him, as his expression slipped past her guard. He was excited and scared and confused and a whole host of other emotions she could barely read. The most prominent emotion, however, was, surprisingly, a happiness that managed to shine through all the others.

"I—" he started and then stopped, the happiness being covered over by the confusion. "I'm lost," he said and then went into a pace, running his hand through his head in frustration. He looked back at Piper. "I was trying to change the future, make it back in time. But I think I moved too far back. I've been spending the last few weeks trying to get back without messing things up but I can't. It's as if my future doesn't even exist."

No doubt his timeline had been destroyed, which meant there was another timeline in which the Angels of Destiny had killed them for not keeping the Grand Design. Anger surged up Piper's stomach and it was all she could do not to do something stupid, speaking against the gods or letting her power loose.

Instead she took a breath which put everything into perspective, it fortified to her that what she was doing now was the right thing to do.

But it didn't help her in dealing with this, with him.

"You're the only one I could sense," the boy continued. "Everything's wrong. The manor's hidden by some sort of magic, something that wasn't true in my time line. Mom," he said and there was so much emotion behind the word that Piper's resolve cracked. "What's going on?"

"I don't know that I'm really your mother," Piper said. The boy's expression faltered and he almost broke, a sheen coat appearing over his eyes. "I can't just take that as true," Piper quickly continued as she felt another bump against her resolve. "Because you could be a demon or a warlock or any other manner of creature. Please, just, give me a moment to think?"

The boy swallowed and nodded. Piper took a breath, feeling the impulse to close her eyes before she stopped herself. The first thing to assuage was the fact that there was the very real chance that he was allied with the Source or, for that matter, that he was working to claim their powers, which meant…

"We're going to the manor," said Piper. The boy started to move forward but Piper stopped him. "I'll call my whitelighter to take us—" the boy's expression shifted "because I can't take the chance that this might be a trap."

"I'm get that, Mom," he said. "But I can't let him see me. I'll be in the manor. I'll see how far I can orb towards the manor without the magic stopping me. Please don't tell him about me," he said just as he broke apart into orbs of light.

"Leo!" Piper called a moment after. There was the signature sound and then the man appeared.

"Piper what's going on?" he said.

"Warlock," Piper lied quite easily. "He blinked with me in tow. Managed to fight him off before he disappeared. Do you mind taking me back to the manor?"

"Sure," said Leo. "But…I'll have to hug you."

Piper sighed. "Get it over with," she said. Leo awkwardly embraced her before she felt herself break apart, the scenery shifting before she was in her neighbourhood.

"This is as far as I can take you," he said. "The magic around your house is pretty extensive."

"It's okay. Thanks about this," she said. "You can go back to your other charges now."

Leo nodded. "Still looking into that Fountain of Youth thing," he said. "Matter of fact let me… I've got to go," he said and then he disappeared.

Piper started walking, realising after a moment that she'd left the car behind. She had a moment to sigh before she just let it go, they could probably call the thing by magic. Even if it was personal gain it wasn't hurting anyone which was the main principle for the personal gain thing, even though Piper didn't entirely like it.

She was nearing the house when she saw something rather odd. A woman wearing a white suit standing in front of the manor, she turned as she saw Piper.

"Ms Halliwell," she said when Piper neared. The woman neared and Piper had to stop, looking at the house beyond and preparing herself for what would no doubt be a battle. Instead the woman held out a hand. "I'm Cleaner Andrews," she said. "Of the inquiry section of the United Magical Cleaners."

"You'll forgive me if I don't trust that," said Piper. "I was just attacked and I'm on edge."

"Just the matter I was here to discuss," said the woman but Piper stopped her.

"As I was saying I'm on edge," said Piper. "This would move easier if you let me inside the house."

"Of course," said the woman and she stepped back, out of the way of the door. Piper walked slowly, keeping her eyes on the Cleaner before she stepped through the threshold. She felt a little calmer having the protection of the house on her side.

"You were saying," said Piper.

Cleaner Andrews gave a short nod before reaching into her pocket and pulling out a clipboard. "A matter of fifteen minutes ago a ripple was sent through the this particular timeline," she said. "Caused by one focal point, which is your trip today. From it, magic was eventually discovered and a war broke between magic and mundane kind."

"Okay," said Piper. "Where do I fit into this?" she asked. "I didn't perform any magic."

"Yes," said the Cleaner. "But you were attacked by an unknown." She looked down on her clipboard. "From what we see, you've spoken to your whitelighter and the report from him is that you were attacked by a warlock. This particular warlock is powerful enough that he could hide even from our sight

"We think, therefore, that we might have an individual who has time and again broken the rules. With these hypotheses, it's paramount that he be question and held accountable for his actions. What would help me would be a description of the attacker, since he didn't manage to get your abilities, I assume he didn't temper with your memories."

"No, he didn't," Piper answered. "But I can give you a description of him if you want though I wasn't paying particular attention to how he looked."

"If that's the case I can cast a spell to see the memories, with your permission, of course," the woman said.

"Yeah…no," said Piper. "That rubs me the wrong way. Anyway, why do you have to worry? He was after me which means he'll do so again. My sister and I can handle a warlock…even if the last escaped, that was a lesson learned."

"Well, this particular grade of warlock is more than the one you faced," she said. "Certainly more so if he can blink."

"I don't buy it," said Piper. "Forgive me for being suspicious but my life has gone crazy the last few days. What's going on here? What aren't you telling me?"

"Rude as it may sound, Ms Halliwell, but this is above your paygrade. In matters relating to magic and its security I have been given supreme right to do as I see fit to protect it. If that means taking your memories without your permission, so be it. But, as you are one of the Charmed Ones, I believe it might be better for our working relationship if we did this with as little animosity as possible."

"Kind of hard to do that with that threat hanging over my heart, but…" Piper shrugged. "He was on the taller side, broad shouldered and with blunt features. His skin was…tanned and with dark hair, but beyond that I don't remember much except that he was trying to kill me."

"Of course," the woman said, though she didn't sound like she believed her in the least. Cleaner Andrews gave Piper a long look before she gave a short nod, putting her clipboard back in her pocket. "Thank you, Ms Halliwell," she said before she turned and left. The moment she was beyond the property she disappeared, breaking apart into golden light.

"Thought she'd never leave," said a voice and Piper jumped. The boy appeared just behind her, _in the house._ "I get it now that you want me here, protection in the house. It would have killed me if I were a demon or a stranger."

"Guess there's at least a greater likelihood that your story is true," she said as she walked further into my house, headed towards the living room. "So you're my son? I don't even know your name."

"Oh. Right. Chris. Christopher Perry Halliwell," he said. He didn't sit even as Piper was sitting. Instead he stood, pacing at moments before he stopped and shifted. "You named me after granddad…Dad's father, not yours."

"And who is your dad?" Piper asked coolly. She was surprised how little she felt. But then, she'd died in one timeline and had her memories sent to an alternate timeline. It got harder to be surprised after that.

"I don't want to mess up the future too much," said Chris.

Piper snorted before she stopped, the truth and how he might experience it clear to her. "Sit down, hon," she said. Chris stopped his pacing and chose a couch, sitting heavily. "How much do you know about everything? About the Angels of Destiny? About how time works?"

"Only what I've been able to get on the Book of Shadows," he said. "Not much. You never really interacted with them, just periphery information gleaned. Time…I know about protections to stop from being tracked but that's about it. I know about the multiverse theory, though. That was pretty much standard information, especially if you're into a particular set of fiction."

"Right," said Piper. "Well, have you thought about how the multiverse theory worked when the Grand Design existed?"

Chris shook his head. "I was sort of focusing on other things," he said. "Like staying alive."

Piper frowned at that. "Where am I in all of this? Or your aunts?"

Chris sighed, running a hand through his hair before he shook his head. "I interrupted you while you were speaking," he said. "Sorry."

"Right," said Piper. "As I was saying. The Grand Design can't really exist if an infinite amount of universes also exist because, no doubt, there would be variation in events, wouldn't there?" Chris nodded. "Now think about it, really think about a way to keep to the Grand Design in a universe that allows parallels."

Chris was quiet for a moment before he said, "Manipulate events. Parallel universes are created through decisions. Splits and all that. So by working evens you're limiting the choices a person can make. For example if the Grand design requires a person make to go right instead of left, you could drop a tree in front of the left path making it so they have to go right. But I don't see what this has to do without me—"

"We're not finished," Piper interrupted. "Now factor in that there are people that can see the future. Who can game the system so that even if events are manipulated they can search out the actions they need to put into effect to get a certain outcome."

"In that case if it's in their best interest to go left, then instead of going right, they'll see if there are any other routes which will take them left, or, seeing that a tree is going to fall, move faster so that this happens after they've moved left. The Grand Design would be hard to keep. How is the Grand Design even still possible?"

"Using your example," said Piper, "imagine this. A person is walking down the road and it splits. Left and right. The person stand on the precipice of making a decision, but they have future sight. They look at what will happen if they go right and they don't like it, but it works toward the Grand Design. They look left and they like it.

"Still look, they know that a tree is going to fall to bar their path so they move faster, the see passing into the left road only for that future to suddenly disappear altogether. They're confused but again they test it out, this time looking towards both directions. The move right and they don't like the path, but when they move left it disappears. _There is no future in that direction."_

"No," said Chris and his voice broke. "You mean."

Piper nodded. "Your timeline didn't fit into the Grand Design."

 _It was destroyed,_ she thought she was about to say before the words caught in her throat. The boy looked down, his hands rubbing at his eyes before he started shaking. Piper couldn't help herself, moving beside him and giving him a hug, rubbing his back as he broke into tears.

More than anything it seemed like the universe was working itself to making her hate the way things were moving more and more.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

"He can probably here us," said Piper as she watched Phoebe close the door. Prue gave her a long look at that and Piper inferred that she wanted an explanation. "His father is Leo, a whitelighter, that means he's a witch-whitelighter hybrid like Paige."

"And the Elders allowed this?" asked Phoebe. "When they wouldn't have accepted it with Paige?"

"But that plays into the Power of Three," said Prue. "I've been thinking about it, and the only reason it would only make sense if they were afraid that breaking apart the Power of Three."

"Then that means there Elders have a sense of self-preservations," said Piper. "If we work off of that, that they're willing to play that game, then we have to think that they might be helping destiny along so their timelines don't get destroyed."

"You think we can use that?" asked Prue.

Piper shrugged, it was possible that they could use it but above and beyond the Elders seemed to know that they were outmatched. They were apathetic to the plight that many timelines faced. She took a breath and pushed it back, all of it seemed a little more real now when she thought about it, when she looked at Chris and saw the impact it was having on her son.

"I think we're away from the important bit, here," said Phoebe. "You have a son."

"Have you tested it?" asked Prue. "Made sure that he is who he says he is?"

Piper gave her a nod. "Gave him a potion to wash away all illusions, gave him a truth potion and asked him questions, and above and beyond that I contacted Mom and Grams, had them come up with a spell that would test his claim. Even if he's very good at magic I don't think he would have passed all of that if he was lying."

"So what do we do about him in the grander scheme?" asked Prue.

"Wow," Piper found herself muttering. "Could you ask that any colder?" Before Prue could answer Piper took a breath and said, "He's my son and he's just lost everyone he knows, everyone that he loves. Right now I think we should spend a little getting him accustomed to this time, broach what we're doing and figure out a way that we'll be able to push him back and sideways when we need to."

Phoebe and Prue shared a look, the latter's expression going still before Piper saw some sympathy. "Does that mean pulling back on our work? Putting on the act that we're following the path they've setup?" the question was directed at Phoebe more than at Piper.

"I think we should," said Phoebe. "I'm getting the feeling—not a vision just intuition—that there'll be a more to his trip. The protections that Jeremy mentioned on time travelling."

"I think that might come to pass sooner than later," said Piper. "As I was coming back I was met by a Cleaner. He was investigating the matter in the university. Chris can cloak himself and I was their only lead."

"Which means the Cleaners will be watching us above all else," said Prue. She took a breath, rubbing the bridge of her nose and going into a pace. "Let's put them on the back burner for now," she said. "They're investigating and they'll be watching, which means we won't give them anything. Chris will stay at the house and not leave until we figure out more about the Cleaners."

"I could," said Phoebe. "Search through alternate futures until I meet a me that's had some interactions with the Cleaners. But that will take a long time, especially above the visions that Destiny is forcing me to have."

"Forcing? What?" asked Piper.

"The innocent that we saved, the visions I received weren't one I was consciously working to get," she said. "They felt different. I've worked my visions so that they're clearer, the sound is sharper, I've even moved to colour. The most important but is that I've gotten them to the point where I can get the entire image.

"These were jumbled. I think they didn't take into account my experience and they sent me the rougher visions from the start."

"We've been thinking on it," said Prue, "adding more on your thoughts and we think that the angels don't know what we did in the alternate futures."

"With that in mind we chose to change how we theorise their powers work," said Phoebe. "Every new timeline introduces new iterations of the Angels of Destiny. For whatever reason, the angels can't move between timelines and if they can move back in time, it's only within those same timelines."

"But they aren't doing that, are they?" asked Piper. "They can't have. If they did they would have travelled back in time to stop us before we started, before you could send back your memories."

"Which lends further credence to the theory that there's someone or something out there that's keeping them from doing so," said Prue. "There are other forces in play and if we find out who they are, which side they lean, we might be able to get their help. But above all else we have to keep the act up, follow any visions that Phoebe gets while making it hard for demons and warlocks."

"In the meantime," said Phoebe with a large smile. "I want to go chat to my nephew." She pulled on the enchanted doors to the parlour where Chris sat with a rubrics cube moving in the air. "He is so cute," said Phoebe, closing the space between the both of the quite deftly and engulfing him in a hug.

"Please don't crush me," Chris said, closing in on himself and close his eyes; to Piper it looks as though he was afraid to get hurt. "Oh," he said, surprised. "You don't have that yet."

"Have what?" said Phoebe, pulling back.

Chris took a breath and let it out. "I guess it doesn't mean much with my timeline gone," he said. "And it wouldn't change much in the first place… Aunt Phoebe—"

"I'm an aunt," Phoebe muttered giving Prue a tap.

"—will have superstrength and levitation added to her active power set," Chris continued.

"More powers," said Phoebe, she sat beside Chris. "That's going to be fun, right?"

"Do I get any new powers?" asked Piper. "They might be fun."

"No," said Chris. "You're the only one with effectively one power. Aunt Prue has telekinesis and astral projection, Aunt Phoebe has precognition, superstrength and Aunt Prue has telekinesis mixed in with her whitelighter blood."

"Well, there's something to make you feel less special," Piper muttered.

"Don't me," Chris said quickly. "In my timeline you were the scariest of the Charmed ones after…" His eyes strayed towards Prue before he looked down. "After Aunt Prue died."

The three of them shared a look.

"Chris," said Prue. "Why don't you tell us about your timeline. Everything about it?"

"Is this about the destiny and timelines?" Chris asked. Piper gave him a look. "I wasn't listening. You always hated it when Wyatt and I did that. But I'm _your_ son," he said with a shrug.

"Yes," said Prue, her words slow and measured. "And we want to understand something. The angels destroy timelines in which their vision doesn't come to pass, we're just wondering why they wouldn't destroy a timeline where I died and the Power of Three was broken."

"Because of Aunt Paige," said Chris. "She manifested shortly…" Chris sighed. "You know, when you're looking at this with a suspicious eye everything starts to seem like one great manipulation."

"Welcome to our world," Phoebe muttered.

All this Piper barely heard because her mind was on one word, one name: "Who's Wyatt?" she asked and all at once Chris froze, his teeth grit and the edge of tears in his eyes.

"He's…" Christ wiped at his eyes, getting his breathing under control. He smiled a little as Phoebe gave him a hug. "He's my older brother."

There was a crash and Chris was the only one to be surprised; more than one piece of furniture in the room shattered into a multitude of pieces before it reformed only to shatter apart. This continued until Piper started to get control over her breathing, pushing her anger until it was forced to subside. When she looked at her watch fifteen minutes had passed.

Chris looked scared at the end of all of it, terrified. While her sisters looked empathetic to her plight. Piper felt the anger escaping her grip again for furniture to explode all over again. The time it took to calm herself was shorter this time.

"I'm going to cook something," said Piper rising to her feet. In the kitchen she allowed herself to get lost in the routine. Five minutes through it all Chris walked in, asked what she was making and fit himself fluidly in the routine.

"You're going to depose the Angels of Destiny, aren't you?" Chris asked when fifteen minutes had passed. Piper gave him a long look and Chris looked down, shifting. "Grandpa Victor told me the story when I was old enough to really understand. How you were, about this magic thing. He told me of your relationship with the Elders, that you didn't like them."

Piper smiled sardonically. "It's hard to like someone controlling your lives," she said.

"With what you are discussing it seems like the sort of thing you'd want to do," he said. "Which means it's probably fortuitous that I'm here…or not. It could be a part of the Grand Design."

Piper shook her head. "I don't think that's true," she said. She took a breath. "I don't know them well, but I do know how they act. It's probably folly," she said. "But they're simple, set in an action that works but leaves them open to being crafty."

"Even so they're powerful," said Chris. "The type of power that it would take to destroy entire timelines. Do you think you can win against that?"

Piper shrugged. "It only takes one victory," she said. Well if their theory was right then it would only take one victory.

"I can help," he said. "Make it easier because with my future knowledge I might be able to accumulate a power base, countermeasures for that sort of thing. More to that there might be a simple solution: The Avatars."

888

"The Avatars are a neutral party," Chris said when he and Piper had moved to the parlour, with Prue and Phoebe with them. "I don't know how, but they discovered a way of pooling their collective power. It's something that's meant that they could build their own personal dimension existing outside the influence of other magical beings."

"Even the Elders and the Angels of Destiny?" asked Prue.

"Even them," said Chris. "In my future you worked him them for a time. You all became Avatars, boosting their power enough that they could warp reality towards a quasi-Utopia. When you found out how it really worked you severed from the Avatars and everything returned to normal."

"They're an option," said Prue. "But from what you're saying there's something about them we didn't like."

"You weren't a part of them," said Chris, his words slow. "This was after your death." Piper looked in Prue's direction and she didn't seem as affected as Piper might have been. "But yeah. Their Utopia wasn't all that perfect. Every time anyone disrupted what they wanted, they made them disappear."

"That works counter to what we're trying to achieve," said Phoebe. "But at least we have an idea of how to protect ourselves. Building a dimension outside of the control of anyone other than us. You don't happen to have any ideas how we might do that, do you?"

Chris shook his head. "All I know is that you'd need a lot of power," he said. "The Power of Three is a lot of power in its own right, but not enough that it would be able to create a personal dimension."

"How about we play this in another direction," said Phoebe. "Play it very long term but by putting the people we love in danger."

"What are you thinking," said Prue.

"I'm thinking that we send our kids back in time," she said. "From this point on we create our own splits." Phoebe paused. "It's cold and all of me doesn't like it, but I'm thinking that we start having children strictly from an evolutionary point of view so that they can travel back through timelines not to the point, but before we get out powers. That way the various permutations of our children can come together to create our new dimension."

"That sounds eerily like having children so that they can just serve as soldiers," Piper said. She looked at Chris' direction and she felt a sense of unease. What would he think with the way they were speaking.

"We're not even sure how that would work on us," said Prue. "We'd be creating timelines in which we have these children, but we'd be working through our conundrum, sending memories back. All those memories and things might come out a jumbled mess."

"I might be able to do it," said Phoebe. "It's getting to the point that there's always a vision running at the back of my mind and I handle it. Memories wouldn't be much."

"There's also the fact that I appeared when I was with Jeremy," said Piper. "If this happened around him, me stuck in stupor, he might kill me."

"I know there are a lot of kinks," said Phoebe. "But it's the only way we can think off. From then on we have a measure of protection from them."

"I'm still not sure how this would work, though," said Prue. "We'd be out of their gaze, but ultimately how would that reflect? With permutation, in which timeline would be able to use the dimension?"

"Is that how it would work?" asked Chris. "I mean, the way you guys are talking it's like you're quasi-moving back to one point, creating new branches. If _we_ moved further back than that point, then we would create a dimension and then every branch that formed from that would have the dimension."

Piper groaned rubbing the bridge of her nose. "This is all too…big," she said. "Forcing me us to think in abstract. It forces us to think how space-time works which is hard enough since none of us were in the sciences, but it's worse when you add magic into the mix."

"We knew it would be difficult dealing with this," said Prue. She sighed sitting back and closing her eyes. "But it seems even harder now. Why don't we resume this conversation in the morning? I'm tired enough as it is."

888

AN: I'm starting to feel like I've bitten off more than I can chew with the timeline thing but it's fun thinking about—this sort of reflects the thoughts I have sometimes with this show. I'm not sure but I think the whole timeline thing might get confusing with how I wrote it out—obviously I understand it since I'm the one whose thinking on it, but it could be indecipherable.

The basics of it: Tree the timeline that they're in as the trunk of a tree, every choice they make from that point on sprouts new branches. I think it should make sense if you read the chanter with that in mind.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

"You have a good night's sleep?" said Piper when Chris walked into the kitchen, rubbing at his eyes.

"The couch is awful," he muttered under his breath. He sat and held out a hand, the fridge opened and orange juice flew into his hands. "But it's better than nothing. When are you guys going to expand the house anyway."

Piper couldn't help but snort at that. "How did we ever manage to do that? If you haven't noticed none of us exactly have jobs and it will only be a matter of time before our savings run out."

Chris shrugged taking a gulp of his juice. "Grandpa was very good at figuring out expenses," he said.

Piper hummed at that, moving to take a seat on the table. "I seem to notice that you don't discuss your father all that much," she said and Chris reacted, his shoulders squaring. "I know he's not dead, you seem to talk about us quite easily even with us being dead. But with him, it's another matter. Who was he? Or is?"

"Dad is Leo," he said slowly.

"Our whitelighter?" Piper said, surprised. "How did the Elders ever agree to that?"

"Breaking you apart seemed to be bad in the grander scheme," he said. "You and Dad really loved each other and you were prepared to fight the Elders if they clipped Dad's wings."

"I don't understand, though," said Piper. "From what I know of Leo he seems like a good guy. But from what I'm seeing from you…" She paused unable to put into words what she felt from him.

Chris sighed. "Dad is, was, an Elder in my timeline, which meant he looked over innocents, his charges and the lower whitelighters. It's kind of hard fitting your own kids in there."

"He was neglectful," said Piper.

Chris nodded. "I was fourteen when you guys died," he said, his voice wavering. "Not old enough that I truly appreciated you guys but…after that, things changed. My outlook on the world shifted. I remember you, Aunts Phoebe and Paige having to fight demons or protect people. But the moment me or Wyatt got a cold, skinned a knee we had your attention above and beyond the demons.

"I mean, outside looking in, that's bad. But for me, I loved it, I felt loved. And then you guys died and Dad spent moves of his time _up there,"_ he said gesturing at the sky. "It got so bad that grandpa was able to get custody with magic stopping him from getting us back. Not that he tried all that much," he muttered the last.

"There's more," said Piper, she could see it in the way he sat. The way he was playing with his orange juice. He looked up and ran his hand over his face, rubbing away at the creases that had formed.

"That's where it all started," he went on. "How bad my future got. Wyatt resented Grandpa for taking us away from Dad. It was small at first, but as we grew older it worked on the way he dealt with demons, all of it not helped by how powerful he is. Eventually Wyatt destroyed the reformed Source and its power transferred into him."

"Wyatt was the Source?" Piper said.

"Far worse than the Source, really," said Chris. "Far more powerful because he was thrice blessed in a manner of speaking, which means he had the equivalent power of the Charmed Ones on his own. In a matter of months he had demons under him, a year and he'd destroyed the Cleaners, another year and demons ruled this dimension."

"That's what you were trying to change."

Chris gave a slow nod, letting out a huff. "I'm twice blessed," he said. "With the powers of a witch and also the powers granted by the Elders, and maybe if I manoeuvred right I could have vanquished him. But I didn't really want to. Even at his worse he was still my brother and loved him. Even at his worst I was still his brother and he loved me. This seemed like the safest course of action. I didn't know that—"

"You would be leaving him behind to be killed," Piper said under her breath. She felt the anger there, rolling around in her but she pushed it down. It helped to think in the larger picture, not to focus on all of the emotional turmoil.

Chris let out his own shaky breath as he rubbed at his eyes. "Whatever you're cooking is going to burn," he said.

Piper nodded and got to her feet, finishing up breakfast and plating it. It wasn't too long after that they were joined by Prue and Phoebe, sharing a silence breakfast before Chris broke it.

"I think it might be time to start doing more," said Prue. "Talking in general terms is one thing but it might be a good idea we gather power."

"And money," said Chris. "I don't want to have to sleep on the couch for too long."

"Getting money will be a little hard," said Phoebe. "The Elders are still watching us, not to mention the Wiccan reed."

"There are ways around that," said Chris. "We're allowed to vanquish demons," he said. "Technically that's harming someone but we're given a pass on that. Demons have money, we can take it from them."

"Why would demons have money?" asked Prue.

"To buy things," said Chris with a look of confusion. "For their houses when they're above ground. I means sure, they can use magic for that, but there's only so much that can be achieved through magic before people start to notice, then you have the Cleaners after you."

"Like you do?" asked Phoebe. "How are we going to deal with that?"

"We're doing it again," said Piper. "We're spreading ourselves thin thinking on all the angles we have to take care off. Right now we should prioritise. Which is more important that we do first?"

"The money," said Chris.

"Cleaners," said Prue. Phoebe and Piper gave a nod at that. "So we deal with them first. The question becomes, how. What do you know about the Cleaners?"

"They're a group empowered by both good and evil," said Chris. "They ensure that magic isn't exposed to the world."

"That would make them twice blessed, right," said Piper. "By what you said before."

"Twice blessed?" said Prue.

"The sources of power you get your greater pool of powers is a blessing," said Chris. "Each of the magical speciations give blessing by being a parent. I'm twice blessed, Mom's a witch and Dad's a whitelighter."

"So in theory you could be able to handle them?" asked Prue.

"In theory," Chris agreed. "But in practice it's a whole other matter." He took a breath, looking at Piper before he said, "When Wyatt destroyed them he did it through allying the various forces of magic. People empowered by the Source's power, whitelighters who were fed up with the status quo and other darker creatures. Even then it was an outright war."

"A war isn't something we can have," said Phoebe. "It will be obvious and this timeline will be destroyed."

"That leaves us with only diplomacy," said Prue. "Harder because there's a larger room for error. How do the Cleaners work logistic wise?"

Chris shook his head. "I don't know," he said. "You and them didn't have the best track record, and then they were gone."

"Would it be strange if I asked Leo about that?" asked Piper.

Phoebe shook her head. "You already met one, it only makes sense. But he'll be curious between your story and that the Cleaners made an inquiry."

"Why don't you just look at the future," said Piper. "Get an idea of what their abilities are."

"Doesn't work like that," she said. "I think that I'm looking at other timelines instead of the future. That makes more sense. It could be that I'm creating other timelines every time I use future knowledge to get something."

"Then can't you gear that to just getting us the answers?" asked Prue.

"The only way I know where I can do that is living through those timelines and causing trouble," she said. "Which means putting in my hands the lives of countless people as those timelines become destroyed."

"Isn't worth the risk?" asked Chris. "We'll be more timelines more iterations in the future."

"True," said Piper. "But it's one thing to think about that in abstract and another to actually do it. I mean…" Piper sighed. "I know that at some point this timeline will be destroyed, but to actually go through with it is something I'm having trouble rationalising more and more as time passes."

"Oh…" said Chris. He looked at all of them before he held out a hand. "We'll, I think I can go through with it."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Phoebe before she paled.

"This is for the greater good. Hearts," said Chris and promptly, all three sisters dropped.

Chris got to his feet, feeling a discomfort in his stomach. He didn't like what he did and most likely they wouldn't like it too, but information could be useful the next timeline over.

888

AN: Chris Perry Halliwell is pragmatic as fuck. This is totally in character.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

All at once Piper was met by a surge of images; in a series, running in fast forward and still her mind could comprehend it all. The events of the last few weeks, but shining brightly were the images of the last few minutes: Her own son calling her heart out of her body, her sisters going rigid and a coldness creeping through her entire body before it was all over.

"Fuck me," Jeremy's memories sound over the flood of memories. There were more, not just the memories of her own timeline but of countless others. She focused on just moments after she'd died in a few iterations of a particular timeline.

" _I'm sorry," said Chris as he looked at Phoebe._

" _You killed us!" said Phoebe in twelve iterations. Prue and Piper shifted: Prue getting to her feet and clenching her hands in fists while Piper let herself slump, looking at Chris and feel an abject sort of terror._

" _I did," Chris said, looking at Piper. "Mom, you have to believe that this is for the best. I was trying to figure things out in the wider scale. The other me is going through the motions of figuring out how long until the angels figure out that you three are dead, how they'll react first and indirectly dealing with the Cleaners. Getting them off my tail."_

" _But you didn't discuss this with us," said Prue._

" _Because you guys are thinking through this emotionally," said Chris. "Mom, the best way through this is being cold, logical, seeing the greater picture, what we're trying to achieve."_

" _That's a good way of losing sight of the trees for the forest," said Phoebe._

" _Do we have a choice?" asked Chris. "Every time we hold back is a whole host of timelines where universes get destroyed."_

It wasn't like before this time. There were too many timelines for her to just review them all at once. Which meant she had to pace herself. Jeremy looked to be in the thrall of his own vision fit, the man running his temple while he sat: He looked in tremendous pain.

No doubt Grams hadn't loved transferring that batch of memories.

"How warded is this place?" asked Piper.

Jeremy grit his teeth before he shook his head. "Not enough. If they're really looking they'll be able to see us."

"Hide us," she said:

" _I love you," said Jeremy. Piper couldn't love him, she'd stopped feeding that side of her a long time ago. She'd gotten what she wanted from this, someone that she could actually love._

"Let the object of objection become but a dream as I cause the seen to be unseen," he said. The room didn't disappear, but a golden light passed at the boundaries of the room. "You could have said that yourself," he said when the spell had taken effect.

"I'm not supposed to know the spell," said Piper. "Leo will have noticed that I've disappeared from his _sight_ and he'll have my sisters calling me back. We have a few minutes."

"We do," said Jeremy. "Melinda—"

" _Mommy," the little girl, her skin slightly tanned with curly black hair. Piper reached low and accepted her into her arms. The cold was periphery at this point, the spells doing their work until Melinda had full control over her ability._

"—is she safe?"

 _An arrow flew through the air only to be intercepted by a table; the air in front of the woman suddenly turned to plasma and she was instantly engulfed by fire. The scream filled the air before she disappeared._

 _Another man appeared and Jeremy flung him back only for the man to stop himself; an energy ball appeared and was thrown forward, Piper froze the air in front of the thing and it detonated on impact; even so the detonation was large enough that it managed to hit Jeremy._

 _A spell came at Piper's lips to dispel the fire but he had to jump to the side as three energy balls were flung in her direction. She quickly came to her feet and flicked her hand, changing the air's state: the man stumbled back only to be hit by another explosion, not enough to vanquish him but enough that she could say, "Chris!"_

 _The boy appeared only to be struck by an energy ball in the air. He flipped through the air, landing in a clump._

" _Heart!" he shouted and the demon slumped._

"Give me a minute," said Piper and she pushed.

 _Melinda was older, her hair cut short and wearing an extremely deep shade of red. She had a hard expression but Piper could see tears at the end of it all; Peter stood beside her, holding the girl's hand and Chris, looking much older, stood beside both._

" _Are you ready?" asked Chris as a deep thrum passed through the room._

 _Melinda and Peter gave a short nod._

" _Then begin," said Chris._

" _Shifting space and time…"_

"They got out before that timeline could be destroyed," Piper answered. It was so easy to get lost in it all as she thought about it, as, in the timelines in which she lived, she was as the spawn of the Charmed Ones pushed themselves back in time.

"All that work," Jeremy muttered under his breath. He rubbed his temple. "But this time we're playing it for keeps, right? No more going back?"

"Chris pretty much…" Piper stopped as she felt herself starting to shift. "Yes," said Piper before she moved. "We're playing this for keeps. Melinda will contact you, show you one of the opening to our dimension. You're not to let anyone else in."

"Of course," said Jeremy. "I know the risk."

All at once everything shifted. She felt herself moving before she stopped and then she was standing in the attic with Prue, Phoebe, Paige and Leo standing waiting for her.

"I didn't sense you all of a sudden," said Leo:

" _This is crazy," said Leo. "What you want us to do is crazy."_

" _Are you really prepared to let iterations of our sons die?" said Piper. "This is the only way, Leo."_

" _No," said Leo. "I can talk to the Elders. I can explain this and they can put a stop to it." Leo disappeared before Piper could say anything. It wasn't a little longer that everything disappeared._

"Jeremy knew I manifested," said Piper. "He's a warlock. It's a good thing you called me here."

"I think that will be all," said Prue. "Thank you, Leo."

Leo gave a short nod. "I'll get things started on my side," he said. "I know some people that might be open for us taking Eldership."

" _Dad, don't," said Chris, in another iteration, having dispelled his invisibility._

" _Dad? Piper, what's going on?" asked Leo._

" _Leo, this is Chris," said Piper. "Our youngest son from the future. He's staying here because his timeline was destroyed when it didn't match up to the Grand Design. But above and beyond that the Elders know, I can show you."_

 _Leo slumped, running a hand through his hair. Piper and Chris shared a look, knowing that in one timeline they'd no doubt died._

Leo orbed away only for Chris to materialised. "We'd better get you guys inside," he said. "The others are waiting."

The sisters shared a nod. Chris waved his hand a portal opened, revealing a wondrous world beyond. 


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"It's a large bowl," said Chris from behind Piper. She didn't look back, looking instead forward as she had been for the last hour. "The centremost portions is slightly raised and so are the island so that they aren't flooded.

"We've got mountains along the edges and a large amount of foliage. Trees tightly clumped together, we've made it so that they'll grow larger with the amount of water they take in, and any excess is let out through the pores so they can go to the clouds."

"Why not just mountains?" Piper asked as she watched it all. From this far off she couldn't see the edges of their pocket dimension, though she knew it to be there; a large white crystal peaked through, towering into and beyond the sky, the thing letting out low that permeated everything.

There were four others, she knew, placed so that they drew out a square which bordered the dimensions; both a measure of protection and providing light. The things had the strange effect that there was light in the way of shadow in some places.

"Elena," said Chris: _"I'll call her, Elena," said Phoebe._ "Beyond her manifestation, she liked the aesthetic. Not to mention conjuring rock became boring after the first ten years."

"Ten years?" said Piper, looking away from everything for the first time. Away from the rows of plants in front of her house, the forest which lay beyond, the fairy and pixies and gremlins that she'd seen scampering beyond. "How long have you been here?"

Chris shrugged. "The first thing we did when we built this was gear a mechanism that warped the relative time," he said. "I think we had it a ten years to one earth second at one point."

"And yet you've all not aged," said Piper.

Chris shrugged again. "Death as a concept hasn't had time to feel its way here," he said. "We all made potions so that when stay as you remembered us." He snorted. "Thirteen kids and all of them looking older. Can you imagine the nightmare name wise when we're all eventually in one room."

Piper smiled a little at that, but even now she hadn't gotten all the names. She pushed and they came to the fore: Chris, her oldest, Melinda, Wyatt, Christopher, Trish, Samson, Olivier, Mable, Eloise and Elliot, Nadeen, Carmichael and Pamella.

"Where are the rest of my children?" she asked.

"Mel, Samson and Olivier are training dragons with a few of our cousins," he said. "Wyatt is with Harry and they're training some of the demons they've been able to scrounge up."

" _Call me Heir!" the boy said._

" _None of that," said Phoebe. "Harry's a perfectly good name."_

 _Harry pouted, his hands crossing as he glared at the floor. In those moment he looked like anything but the Heir of All Evil._

"The others are in town doing one thing or another," said Chris. "It's getting really hard keeping track. FYI, I really hated being the responsible one."

"You're the oldest, hon," said Piper giving him a little smack on the cheek.

"Not really," Chris muttered. "I'm Topher's age if we're being honest. Melinda is technically the oldest. Wyatt and the me and Topher."

It was complicated how time travel could be, especially in its true incarnation. Chris and Christopher, biologically the same person down to the t, but growing up under different environments had forced them both to develop differently, so much so that they looked different enough that they no longer passed for each other.

"But you've lived the longest," said Piper. She sighed and turned to look back outside, catching something big flying in the distance. "When are we going to meet? Devise a way forward?"

Chris glanced at his watch. "About an hour," he said. "Mean time should I take you on a tour?"

"I'd like that," said Piper.

888

"This is crazy, right?" said Phoebe with a large grin. She and Piper were moving through a courtyard filled with strange smelling flowers, the sound of bees buzzing and yet they stayed well away from them. "That it came together like this?"

"It's a little headache inducing, truth be told," Piper muttered. After Chris had given her the tour she'd had time to meet some of her kids, passing along messages before giving herself even more time to work at unravelling the mess of memories in her mind.

It helped that she could break the rules, ensure that time passed differently in her house versus everywhere else.

"You get used to it," said Phoebe. "Learnt that the hard way. Even now I'm watching various visions. See the future and changing it where I can. But less on that and… You have a thing with _lighters_ don't you?"

A total of six of her kids had come from whitelighters. Chris, Wyatt, Christopher and Pamella the children of a whitelighter, while Eloise and Elliot where the scion of a darklighter.

"The same could be said for you and demons," Piper muttered. But then it was only one demon in particular: Cole. While the rest of them had allowed themselves to have a varied amount of husbands through the timelines Phoebe had only had one, with the witch telling her sisters that she was continually working so that she would have different children in each timeline.

"Where is Cole?" she asked. "Or the others? Will they be making an appearance at any time in the future?"

"Too dangerous," said Phoebe. "Between all the supernatural races and powers out there, even with protections someone could slip through."

"But doesn't that put them in danger?" Piper said. "I've learnt to bury everything down throughout my timelines, all of it has come together in my feelings dulled for my husbands. But you… Cole is—"

"I know," said Phoebe. She stopped, letting out a sigh. "Cole and I had many wonderful years. Right now we have to focus on our future. Speaking of which they're—"

She was interrupted by Harry who appeared with a flash of fire. The boy was grinning, having let his form fall to reveal was lay beneath; he was on the taller side, lean in physique and with red eyes with gold pupils, short horns protruding from his head.

"Hey, Mom," he said. "Aunt Piper. I'm your escort for today. Wyatt wanted to come but I beat him to it."

"Aren't you…rambunctious," said Piper.

"Yes, he is," said Phoebe giving Harry a hug. The boy seemed to make an effort of looking upset but that quickly washed away to a grin.

"Mom," he said, he said wriggling from her grasp. "Stop. We have business to work towards."

"Well," said Phoebe. "If you weren't off having fun with Wyatt all the time I didn't have time to do this earlier."

"Well yeah," said Harry. "Wyatt's sort of my quasi-dad."

Piper felt a shiver pass up her spine and she shook her head, her expression twisting in distaste. Harry let out a loud guffaw, enough so that he slapped his hand at his thigh, fighting for breath.

"That always gets you," he said between a laugh. "I was hoping to get one in before your entire flood of memories rolled through." His grin slipped away pretty quickly. "But seriously. Everyone will be waiting for us."

"Let's just go," said Piper.

Harry got close, hugging the both of them before fire started; it was a circle at first, far off before it started drawing closer. The fight bit into her and then quickly climbed her body. Not burning but warm. Pretty quickly it rode up and then she felt a twist and the scenery warped.

Piper stumbled a little forward and looked around. They were in a very large room, chairs at point though a majority of them were empty; in the middle of it was there was a small table with eight nine chairs, everyone who would be attending was already sitting.

Prue beside Peter; Paige beside Primrose; Chris sitting with a space between him and Wyatt and two more empty seats. Piper moved to sit between her sons while Phoebe sat with Harry at her side.

"I think we can now begin the meeting," said Chris. "A recap for those whose memories haven't fully come back."

"This is my first time back," said Paige, "and that would be me."

"It's a lot," said Peter. The boy was a mix between his mother and father, his skin on the dark side, his hair short and colour and his eyes a light brown. "Spread out in multiple timelines but the gist of it is that we have measures in which we can take down the Angels. We've got the Nameless Demon or the Hollow. Both of them with their own problems."

"The smart thing to do," said Piper, the memories have already rushed past. "Is getting them both. Just to make sure that the Angels are dealt with."

"The Hollow requires we be allied with both good and evil," said Wyatt. "I might have the Source and Harry might be the Heir, but we've still got enough good in us that we don't count. It works better for us if I have this timeline's power."

"But isn't that a slippery slope?" said Prue. "There's only so much evil you can hold before it starts to warp your mind and emotions. How you act and what you do with your power."

"My thoughts on the matter," said Chris. "Which is why I think we should go the Seer. She wants power going by my timelines and what I've seen in the various branches. If we promise her this, at least the _chance_ to do something of worth in the future. She'll be open."

"Which helps because it's easier to contact her," said Phoebe. "The moment we step out of here and this place's protection I can just project the vision."

"What about the Oracle?" said Peter. "She's loyal to the Source."

"We'll have to flood her with visions," said Phoebe. "Of the coming attack, on all fronts, every demon they have doing something of worth."

"That's treading dangerous ground, though," said Harry. "I don't want to start my rule in the Underworld with pittance for people to rule over."

"That sort of decision makes things hard," said Chris. "It gives us less room to work with the Oracle."

"I know—" Harry started only to be interrupted by Paige.

"The Tall Man," she said. "The Source feared him and he couldn't be destroyed. The only reason that he was destroyed was because of Harry, here, which is a boon in and of itself."

"But these are the Angels," said Prue. "What certainty do we have that this will affect them?"

"We don't," said Piper. "But something has to affect them. That would be too much power concentrated in one position."

"It would also be a waste," said Wyatt. "That much power and all you can do is destroy timelines."

"Self-inflicted rules," said Peter. "It's how they work."

"It's how morality works," Primrose pointed out, speaking for the first time. Piper couldn't help but nod at that too.

"Less abstract and more practical," said Chris. "That's one alternative open. We've got enough of a framework that we can sort out the detail later. The Nameless Demon."

"We'll have to look for him," said Peter. "My sensory ability is good, but…I don't even really know what I'm looking for, it's magical signature, that sort of thing. Add to that it might be in dimensions…"

"Also electricity," said Harry. "Which means the electricity demon. We could use real electricity but the demon has a measure of intelligence which means it'll be able to actually _do_ something if anything wrong ever happens."

"Something else we have to find," Peter muttered under his breath.

"I'll look," said Primrose. "I'm not as powerful as Aunt Phoebe with my visions. But I can look into the timelines that work into us finding the demon."

"Thanks," said Peter. "Another broad strokes sort of plan," he said. "This is the point where we split up. The various forces and the direction we'll be working."

"Before that is our cover," said Prue. "Is it safer to stay here. Act at times or—"

Phoebe took in a large breath. "Our timeline was just destroyed."

But there was no influx of memories this time which made some sense. They hadn't done anything new this timeline.

"We planned for this," said Chris. "There's one timeline where you came here and another where you waited a day before moving. We'll skip to that timeline. That version of me should—" there was a sound of chiming and another Chris appeared.

"They know," he said. "I'll spend my time here. They've agreed to put and I've got their memories. We should give them a few days to get accustomed to everything before we start making moves."

"All of this is starting to give me a headache," Piper heard Paige mutter.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

"You know, I'm older than the both of you," said Piper, trying and failing to keep her irritation out of her tone. Wyatt and Harry stood at either side of her as they moved through the Market; both of them were tall enough that they framed her, looming much like bodyguards.

"I don't appreciate being coddled," she continued.

"All these people find out that you're a witch and we have a fight on our hand," Wyatt said getting closer. He had his hands folded behind him, scanning their surroundings.

"I could just as well be a warlock," said Piper. A stall was close and a woman in ordinary clothing sat with a chain at her neck, a look of fear in her eyes. "Harry, be a dear a buy her, will you?"

"We won't be able to buy every witch in this place, Auntie," he said and his expression slipped into a grin. "But if we fought all of them…"

"Too dangerous," said Wyatt, he gestured skywards.

The Market was in a desert, buildings of varying length just at the edge in the brown of the desert beyond. Piper looked closer and she saw the shifts in light, making out the outlines of various forms. When she counted, she could see at least six other demons guarding the market.

"Ever the more exciting," said Harry.

"No, we're playing this smart," she said. "We don't have the security we had before."

"Fine," said Harry with an exaggerated sigh. He walked off while Piper and Wyatt looked around. She stopped at a stall, looking over some cursed jewellery and then moving onto some herbs.

"Do you have seeds for this?" she said after taking a sniff of the plant. It didn't smell very good but the vendor had said it had properties worked in potions to enhance the speed and strength of the drinker.

"Yes," the demon said, a large man who looked bone thin. It looked like he would fall over to a small wind but he held himself true. "But it requires the right nutrients in the earth."

"You mind giving me instruction on how to do that?" Piper asked. "I love me my potions."

"Quite strange for a warlock," he said. "Don't your kind usually use pilfered power?"

"Haven't you heard? The Charmed Ones are real," she said. "From what little I got from my contacts they're on the lookout for warlocks. It doesn't hurt to lay low for a while."

"Smart," the man said. "Seven gold pieces for the maintenance of the plant. Raising it to maturity. Three pieces per seed."

"Seven seeds," said Piper and she started reaching into her satchel when a woman bumped into her. Piper felt as the weight of her satchel shifted; before the woman could get too far Piper pointed a hand in her direction and the woman started to slow down.

Three demonic guard appeared, all of them carrying spears. They were hulking forms, insectoid in that they had grey exoskeleton, pincers and large golden eyes.

"Problem?" the biggest said.

"She stole something from me," said Piper. "Any other circumstances and I might have killed her. But right now I'll settle for taking what's mine."

"Is this the truth?" asked the lead guard. Piper pushed out a hand and the woman returned to speed. **"And speak, truth."**

"I…did," she ground out. One of the guards searched the woman before pulling out her stash of gold coins. The demon took all of them gold and handed it over to Piper. They disappeared and the commission was quickly over.

"What will happen to her?" Piper asked. The man had finished with Piper's order.

"A message needs to be sent," the man said. "They'll check her records and if she has more than three strikes she will be executed. Crime isn't need with the powers moving through the Market."

With that done Piper returned to Wyatt who was speaking to a demon with a very long nose and black eyes. Harry was in the process of buying another witch with their money; at some point they would have to work at getting more money, but Piper would leave that for Melinda and Divina, she was good in that sort of thinking.

Their business done Wyatt took Piper's shoulder while Harry took both the witches. They all disappeared in a flash of fire appearing in another portion of the Underworld: The sky was dark with flashes of lightning going off at times, leafless trees stretched out in the distance with dark forms shifting. The only constant source of light was one which came from a house in the middle of it all.

They started walking towards it with the sound of sniffling from the three witches they had trailing after them.

"Please," the woman kept saying. "Please don't kill me. Please."

A form darted from the trees towards them, sleek against the darkness with the vague shape of a dog; Wyatt pointed a hand but Harry moved faster. The boy opened up, his form becoming larger and filled with a myriad of tentacles. A set snakes out, crashing against the ground before one managed to grab at the demon.

Faster than a snake the tentacles snapped back, the dog creature moving towards Harry's maw before Piper acted, flicking her fingers and stopping the demon. Harry's tentacle continued forward while the demon had stopped mid-air.

"Form means utility," she said when large, red eyes flashed in her direction. "It could be useful." Harry let out a long breath with a lot of spittle before he closed again, appearing in his close to human form. "Wyatt."

Wyatt focused and chain materialised in his hands. He focused and there the chain orbed, a portion wrapping around the dog demon's neck while the rest stayed in his hands.

"Whitelighter," said the male witch. "But. How could you—?"

"Quiet," said Piper. She unfroze the demon and it continued it its arc before it orbed until it was in front of them. The thing looked around in confusion before it started to lunge.

"Don't," said Wyatt and his voice was filled with authority. His eyes flashed red, the same happening with Harry's. "You no doubt feel that. It's better you not fight."

"Unless you want me to gobble you up," said Harry. The boy shrugged. "Your form might be fun."

The thing bristled. "You're to be our new dog," said Wyatt. "I can feel it off of you that you were one of the first. The more instinct driven. It won't be that hard for you to fit into the form."

Harry clapped his hands. "Brother!" he said. "You got me a dog." He jumped at Wyatt and gave him a tight hug. "You're my favourite cousin. But don't tell anyone," he added in whisper.

"Let's just get to the house," said Piper. The continued, moving past the boundaries and into the warded area. The dog bristled even more because Harry and Wyatt had changed chains. Had Piper not raised the boy, she too would have found something unsettling about him.

Jeremy and Cole were waiting for them as they got into the house, the two stopping whatever they'd been discussing as they entered.

"Dad!" said Harry. "I got a pet! Biter."

Cole frowned. "One of the old ones," he said. "Are you sure you can handle it? Those things are quite cunning."

"Of course I can," said Harry.

"More powers," said Piper to Jeremy. "It should be enough to start getting other powers under our control."

The begging got fiercer at those words. "Don't worry," said Jeremy. "You're not going to die. _Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies; Come to me who calls you near, come to me and settle here."_

Lights flickered through the air, moving from the witches before settling in Jeremy.

"Done," he said. "Now I can take you both home. I'll change your memories so that you don't tell anyone about this. But at least you're alive, right?"

The witches gave short nods. Jeremy pointed a hand and a hole opened in realities. "Chains," said Wyatt and the chains disappeared from the witches. Jeremy, with the witches, stepped through and the portal closed.

"Did you find anything?" said Cole.

"Most of the leads we aren't sure whether they're real or not," said Wyatt. "There are disappearances but we can't separate those from just dealing between demons or the Unknown Demon."

"Even so I should start running through them," said Cole. "I'll stock up on Tasers until you find your elemental demon. What about the Seer, have you had a chance to contact her?"

"Not our department," said Piper. She settled into a seat, letting the sound of the fire ease her nerves. "Peter?"

"Upstairs," said Cole. "We had another Old One try and breach the wards. Too far forward to be what we're looking for. He got tired with all the noise we were making."

"I'll be in the basement, then," said Harry. "Getting this guy house-bred. Peter can get grouchy."

"Melinda?" Piper asked.

"Making money," the girl said as she blinked into the room. She pulled off the bag and placed it onto the floor. "We've now taken control of the Upper East Side demon collective. It's only a matter of time before we're notice but we'll have enough of a revenue stream to last us a while longer."

"Speaking of which I should get back," said Cole. "There's only so long I can disappear. Word about the Charmed Ones are starting to make waves." The man gave his son a hug before he faded.

Harry moved onto the basement while Wyatt and Melinda moved to the conservatory to start their sparring practise. Piper closed her eyes and focused on the connection, and with it, she watched Paige work:


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

"Our path is not to question the Elders," said Melisandre and there was a general shakiness to her voice as she looked around. Paige and the woman where at the edge of the Heavenly realm, able to look below and see a portion of the Earth.

At first it had been easy to get lost in it all: The golden buildings stretching up into the sky, the intermix between cityscape and forestry, and the abundance of flora which sent a sweet scent permeating through the air. But she'd taught herself to focus.

She looked at the woman, taking in her expression:

" _The thing we have to remember," said Leo. "Is that there have always dissenters in the Heavenly Realm. They've just chosen to soften their voices over the years because the futility of their actions has started to filter through. But the point remains, not every whitelighter enjoys our current utility."_

She seemed to be stuck between fear and uncertainty, but Paige knew the deeper expression. She'd had conversations similar to this, spread across dimensions. She knew the right people to talk to, but the more important thing now was figuring out the right pace.

"I know," said Paige and she let out a long sigh. She looked below, letting her features morph. "But… We've already lost so many innocents either to darklighters or demons."

"Even so, the Elders have a path for action," she said. "The Charmed Ones have manifested their powers and even in two months they've already vanquished many an evil."

"But they're just one set of witches," said Paige. She took in another breath and shook her head. "I have faith in the Elders," she said. "At least them I understand. But all this faith on untrained, untested witches tipping the scale between good and evil…"

"The Elders have a plan of action," she said but Paige could sense the doubt there.

She shrugged. "I'll have to trust that too," she said. "A charge is calling me." She and Melisandre shared a quick nod before Paige focusing on the location, convincing herself she was there and then feeling herself burst apart and reform.

Paige appeared just outside a neighbourhood and started walking, moving a block before she turned into a small house. It was a room house, the dimensions stretched a little so the house appeared to be bigger. As she stepped in a putrid smell passed through the house. Paige walked into the kitchen and Joanna was there watching over three separate cauldrons.

The girl looked up and smiled. "Hey, Mom," she said, sprinkling some black plants into one cauldron. There was a puff of smoke that quickly dissipated. "Everything okay up there?"

"Still working various angles," she said with a sigh. "It's a little tiring though. I think the years have weened away the amount of independence that they have."

"You'll make it work," said Joanna.

Paige gave a nod and walked to the fridge, pouring herself some orange juice. "Any word from your siblings or cousins?" she asked.

"Letita was around to bring in some supplies," she said. "I've worked so that there are a few more vials of potions so that you and the others can keep your forms. Speaking of which you should really drink one, it's getting easier for my mind to grasp who you are."

Paige held out a hand and a potion appeared in her hand. She took a gulp and her face creased in discomfort as she felt the potion running through her; muscles twisted just beneath the surface, skin stretching and bones shifting.

The witch let out a long breath before the potion settled.

"Doesn't get even a bit easier," she muttered under her breath. "Want any help with the potions?"

Joanna gave a smile at that. Paige started to work, getting into the routine. Three hours and her other kids started to arrive through portals from the Halliwell dimension, getting their batch of potion and spending some time with Paige before they returned to their tasks.

Later in the day Paige visited her other charges. A woman that was having a hard time in her teaching position, a lawyer who'd just found out a client had committed a murder, a kid who had just manifested and was thinking on using his abilities on bullies; the last didn't work out so well.

"You've lost this one," said the darklighter. He was on the shorter side with brown eyes and black hair. "Run off back to heaven little whitelighter," he muttered.

Paige orbed away. "I'm going to have to have a talk with that kid," Paige muttered under her breath. The witch was powerful enough that it was better if he was on their side, seeing the world not just as black and white but with some complexity to it.

Witches of that power were better trained by Jeremy. It was dangerous but they already had a plan. In one timeline a Paige would have gone into the Halliwell dimension while in the other she would have stayed on earth.

She, the Paige on earth, kept making the rounds: Watching the emotional disposition of those under her charge, helping out a coven of three as they tried to find a demon that was terrorising Chicago.

"I've seen you fight," said Sheila. "You could help us in this fight."

Paige had to shake her head. "I'm a whitelighter," she said for the fourth time to the very same woman. "I work more as a guide than anything else."

The woman closed her eyes and stretched out her sense. The moment she felt that all her charges were at ease Paige focused on the destination and appeared in the Heavenly Realm. As always there was a mill of whitelighters who weren't on active duty, conversations being shared, but more so than ever, there was a hum of activity.

Paige ignored it. She was new enough that she wouldn't be given any sensitive information. Instead she spent her time reading through the realm's collection of history books. It was surprising how much information the Heavenly Realm had on demons, but then, when Paige really thought about it, it shouldn't be: The Elders were one of the first magical races to exist.

But much though she wanted to know about demons, the Angels of Destiny were of a greater interest.

Much like other higher beings they had their own dimension accessible only to them. There was even greater information about their powers: An omniscience that was anchored to the present, but what made them powerful was the fact that they were rumoured to have an infinite amount of power under their control.

But when Paige thought about it, the idea didn't gel. They'd never had the opportunity to fight the Angels of Destiny, but they'd had time to build up wards and in those times wards had helped fend them off. Spells to hide them from sight, sound and scent had nullified their omniscience.

It made more sense if this knowledge was propaganda, making it so no one even considered fighting the Angels.

 _In my right mind I wouldn't have done this,_ Paige thought sardonically. But she'd died and _a lot_ too. There were timelines where she'd lived long and hadn't been embroiled in magic and in those timelines she hadn't sent her kids back in time.

She felt the anger as she thought about everything, the situation she was aware of and she felt like lashing out. Instead she took in a long breath. It was only a matter of time before the status quo was broken beyond measure.

Even so she felt like venting and she knew Prue would be in the middle of a battle. She focused, running through the connections to her sisters and she watched:


End file.
